


Baby Steps

by LunaCeMore



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angry Sex, Angst, Baby Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time), F/F, Femslash, First Time, Kidnapping, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romantic Soulmates, Swan-Mills Family, SwanQueen Fanfiction Facebook Group, anti-snow, magical mishap, physical violence, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-10-15 16:42:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17532410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaCeMore/pseuds/LunaCeMore
Summary: Ten-year-old Henry Mills has a magical mishap that changes him into a toddler and Emma relies on Regina to help restore him to his former self. Will working together resolve some of the tensions between the two mothers or will they take two steps forward, three steps back in their quest to co-parent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Set in season 2 just after the dark curse is broken and is canon divergence at the moment the Wraith is sent after Regina. In this story, they successfully defeated the wraith by using Jefferson's hat and no one got pulled in after it.**
> 
>  
> 
> **Trigger Warnings: There is physical violence such as slapping and pushing between the women as they work out their... tensions... with one another. I wouldn't classify it as abuse as it falls in line with canon Emma and canon Regina in the first season. There is also lesbian sex, bad language, name calling and general angstiness.**
> 
>  
> 
> **As always, these characters do not belong to me, I belong to them. If you feel the love leave it, I love the love. This story is 95% complete in draft form and as I have free time to do editing I will post new chapters, but I don't have a schedule.**  
> 
> 
> * * *

  


 

Emma Swan was angry. Angrier than she'd been in a long time. The source of this anger was the former Mayor of Storybrooke, and bane of her existence, Regina "Evil Queen" Mills. It was Regina's default mood to be the vilest, most nasty when she herself was angry, and she's had decades to perfect her craft. She knew all of the Savior's buttons as if she had them queued up on speed dial.

Henry's report card was sent in the mail to 108 Mifflin Street instead of his newly acquired residence on Main with Emma. Upon viewing his grades, Regina marched down to the sheriff's station to rip a strip off of the blonde for the boy's falling marks.

"You live with his teacher Emma! How could you allow his grade to fall this far?"

Emma rolled her eyes and stood up from her desk to file the folder she was working on before the intrusion. "Don't you think it's more the circumstances he's found himself in over the last few months that has affected his marks, rather than my parenting skills?"

The irritated Queen all but shouted, "No!"

"Well, I disagree. I'm surprised he's able to maintain a passing grade in any of his classes!"

"Passing?!" Danger flashed across dark eyes, and Emma took a step back out of instinct. "He is an A student Miss Swan. He's been an A student since pre-school! You'd know that if you were around for the first ten years of his life!"

The shot was below the belt but was also a standard go-to for the Queen, so Emma shrugged it off, "Yeah well, was he an A student because of him or because everyone was afraid of you?"

Regina pursed her lips together and took a deep breath and spat, "He was an A student because I was a parent to him, not his buddy!"

"I'm his parent, Regina! I just don't have a broomstick shoved up my ass twenty-four seven!"

"You're hardly a parent. You're at best a glorified babysitter!"

The mood of the Mayor was agitating the blonde so she herself fell back on what she knew would hurt the older woman. "Yeah well, at least I can love him! I'm not playing mind games with him or making him think he is a nut job!"

"How dare you!"

Seeing her prey in her sights, the blonde stepped closer and took the kill shot, "Truth hurts, Your Majesty, and I may not be a parent, according to you, but I'd bet money he won't run away from me looking for a new Mommy!"

The slap that followed was a surprise to both women, and Emma knew she'd crossed the line when she felt the sting across her cheek.

That was an hour ago, and she is no less pissed off as she'd been watching hell in heels storm out of her office. She paced the ground floor of Mary Margaret's loft and seethed. Every confrontation she's ever had with the Mayor has always been just below her red line when it came to her rage and today's argument was no different.

She paced and thought about how different the kid's life would have been if she had been around. If she hadn't given him up; if she'd had kept him and raised him herself. Would he still have been an A student as the brunette claimed him to be? Or would he be closer to the juvenile delinquent both she and the boy's father had been? She was fairly certain Regina knew her insecurities about her position in the boy's life and used it to undermine her confidence. It was a never-ending battle with the woman, and Emma felt the frustration reach its boiling point.

"Fucking bitch!" Just as she swatted the toaster off of the counter in a fit of anger, the front door opened and her son bounded into the house. He was in the line of fire when white-hot light shot from her palm and enveloped his ten-year-old form in a cloud of white smoke.

"Henry!" Emma cried in a panic and darted toward him. When the smoke dissipated, there was a tiny little person drowning in her son's clothing.

Surprise and fear struck the little boy's face, and he started to cry.

"Holy shit!" Emma was in shock as she looked over the baby that resembled her son in so many ways. From his unruly patch of light brown hair, and large hazel eyes to the family trademark chin; the baby was definitely her son.

"Mommy? I want my Mommy!" the baby cried in his fear and looked around the room, searching for his mother.

"Oh my god, Henry! What did I do?" She carefully got closer to the kid and tried to shush him as he screamed for his mother. "I'm here Henry, it's okay."

"No!" the boy screamed, wiggling away from her and out of older Henry's clothes; he tried to push her away. When she picked him up, he let out a loud shriek and flailed his arms and kicked his legs trying to get away from the strange woman.

She tried to comfort him by holding his wiggling body against her, but as soon as she did, she felt warmth cover her abdomen and realized the baby was peeing on her. In her startled state, she yanked him away from her, and he wiggled out of her grasp and landed on the floor with a thud and a wail. He screamed when he got up then ran from her, and she forgot about her urine soaked shirt and was only concerned about how hard the boy had landed. "Wait, dude, come back!"

"Emma? What's going on?" Mary Margaret was standing in the entryway looking down at her daughter who was scrambling across her apartment after a nude toddler. "Who's that?"

"Kid, slow down! Come here!" Emma seemed to be just a second too slow as the child ran back and forth screaming his cries.

"Mommy! Mommy! I want my Mommy!" The boy's pleads echoed in the small space and in order to get away from the crazy blonde who was chasing him, he crawled under the bed.

Emma reached under the bed blindly and tried to grab the kid who was just out of reach.

"Emma?" Her mother questioned as she got closer to the scene. The Savior stopped trying to coax the crying boy out from under her parents' bed and looked up with a deeply furrowed brow. "Something magic happened to Henry, and now he's a baby," she quickly summed up then ducked her head back down and resumed attempting to retrieve the boy.

The surprise and concern the brunette felt was evident in her voice when she asked, "Did Regina do this?"

Emma looked back up with exasperation and replied, "No, I did. Can you help me please?"

Mary Margaret shook her shock away and knelt on the opposite side of the bed and lifted up the dust ruffle and cooed, "Henry?"

The baby answered in shuddering cries, "Mommy! I want my Mommy!"

In a hyper soothing voice, Snow explained, "You're Mommy is right there angel, come on out so we can…"

The boy's scream cut off the pixie-haired brunette's train of thought, and Emma sighed and said, "I'm not his Mom, Regina is."

Snow sat up and looked over the bed at her anxious daughter and reassured, "No, you're his mother, Emma."

"Not to baby Henry I'm not!" Emma's frustration hit its peak, and she buried her face in her hands.

Snow recognized the stress in her daughter's voice and relented, "How did this happen?"

Emma tossed her hands into the air and cried in frustration, "I have no idea! I was pissed off, and some crazy laser shit came out of my hand and blasted the kid into a baby!"

"Alright, keep trying to coax him out of there, I'll call Blue and ask her to come over and fix this." Mary Margaret abandoned her side of the bed and pulled out her cell phone and dialed the fairy.

Baby Henry was wailing under the bed, and Emma's heart was breaking. She'd never felt so unmotherly in her life. Not only was his current situation her fault, but she couldn't even comfort him.

"How old do you think he is, sweetheart?" Mary Margaret asked as she covered the receiver of the phone.

"I don't know!" Emma barked. "Talking age!"

"He is a toddler, Blue," the Princess recited into the phone and Emma turned her attention back to the kid.

She peeked her head under the dust ruffle of the bed and looked at the shivering scared boy nestled between two Rubbermaid bins full of her mother's shoes. "Hey, Henry. I really need you to come out from under there, kid."

"I wa-want my mo-mom-mie!" Little hands covered his eyes, and he cried large shuddering wails for his mother.

"I know you do big guy. Mommy is at work right now," Emma lied with ease. "Can you come out of there so we can put some clothes on you?"

His little head shook, and she sighed then mumbled, "Well it was worth a shot." She sat back up and looked to her mother as she hung up the phone and asked, "Well?"

A cloud of aqua filled an area in the kitchen and when the smoke settled two nuns stood on either side of Mother Superior. "Where is he?" the woman demanded in a no-nonsense tone toward Snow White.

"Here," Emma answered. "He won't come out. He's scared."

Blue instructed the two nuns to lift the bed and she pushed her way passed Emma to take possession of the screaming boy.

"Seriously?" Emma cried as the screams of her child shredded her heart. She watched the Blue Fairy reach down and snatch up the frightened little boy.

"Mommy! HELP! HELP! HELP!"

"God damn it Blue, stop!" Emma yelled and tried to grab the traumatized child from her hands only to be held back by her mother.

Snow held her daughter and tried to soothe, "Emma she's just trying to…"

"Not like this!" the blonde snapped and felt the tears her inconsolable child's cries brought on.

"We're going to need to bring him back to the convent." She handed the squirming crying child over to one of her nun henchmen and continued, "This is some powerful magic Emma, I'm going to need more of my fairy sisters to help pull apart this spell."

Snow started to nod her head permission and let go of the blonde as she did. Emma took the opportunity to rush the nun who had a hold of her screaming kid and grabbed him from her. "No! You're not taking him anywhere!"

Snow looked apathetic and replied, "He can't stay this way sweetheart."

"I'm not suggesting that he can! I'm just not letting these fairies traumatize him!"

Snow stepped closer to Emma and the flailing baby and said, "You're upset. He's upset. No one is traumatizing him. The Fairies are our only chance to resolve this issue and get our Henry back."

"They're not the only option," Emma countered.

One of the nuns scoffed at the notion, "What are you going to do, make a deal with the Dark One?"

"No. I'm taking him to Regina. She'll be able to fix it without causing him any more trauma."

"Emma I don't think that's wise," the Blue Fairy cautioned.

"I don't give a shit what you think. She's his mother. She'll know what to do." She carried the screaming kid over to where his clothes lay on the ground and forced his struggling body into big Henry's shirt to cover his little nude form.

The haughty fairy looked to the White Princess and said, "When that fails as miserably as I'm sure it will bring him to us."

Blue's condescending tone oozed from her words and grated on Emma who side-eyed the nun in displeasure.

After the fairies vacated the apartment, Snow approached her daughter and her hysterical grandson and said, "She's right you know. Regina is only going to make it worse. She'll probably blame us for hurting him, and the whole town could be in danger."

"I don't care what she thinks or what she fucking does about what she thinks! She is more powerful than the fairies and will fix my screw up without hurting him." Emma's loud voice boomed in the tiny apartment and quieted the shrill screams of the baby to that of hiccuping upset.


	2. Chapter 2

The quiet reprieve did not last, and soon Henry's fearful cries were at a full bellow once again. Snow insisted on going with Emma to the Mayor's mansion and sat holding Henry as Emma drove slowly over to Mifflin Street.

"Stay here with him will you, I'll explain things and see if she will help." Emma got out of the car, and Henry's scared cries were muffled when she slammed the door closed. She marched up the walk to the former Mayor's home and felt extreme apprehension before knocking on the pristine white of the woman's door. Snow wasn't wrong, she was certain Regina would blame her for this, and there would be hell to pay as a result.

She pounded on the wood of the door then stepped back off of the stoop and waited. "What do you want Miss Swan?"

"I have a problem, and I need your help."

"Why the hell would I help you?"

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Baby Henry's cries filled the Savior with dread as she turned around wide-eyed to see her son running as fast as his little chubby legs could carry him toward the women. His arms were outstretched, and his eyes were puffy from his upset and out of instinct the brunette bent down and picked him up. His arms locked around her neck for dear life as he settled into her embrace.

The former Mayor softly questioned, "Henry?" The shock on her face was unmasked as she turned to face an apologetic Savior.

"How did this happen?" Regina demanded as shock turned to anger. She was furious. Emma could see she was furious, but she still held Henry with all the care and ease a mother would. Snow trotted up behind them and apologized, "He got away from me."

Dark eyes grew with realization, "Did you drive him here in that liability on wheels, with no car seat?!" The harsh accusation frightened baby Henry who started to cry against his mother's neck.

"I drove slow, Regina!" the blonde defended herself with irritated indignation. Snow stepped between the women when Regina's eyes focused her anger on her daughter, and said, "He's safe with us, Regina." The pixie-haired woman tried to forcibly remove the boy from his mother's arms only to elicit the boy into more screams.

"No! Mommy!" he pleaded then his high pitched screeching was back which split the Savior's heart. Emma watched helplessly as her mother pried her son's little arms away from the former Mayor. She saw the glassy eyes of the Queen and recognized that pain. She wasn't upset Snow once again denied her parental rights. Her heart was breaking at the upset of her child.

"That's enough. Stop."

"But Emma!"

"I said stop! Give him back." The school teacher hesitated, giving her stepmother a skeptical look before handing the crying baby back to her.

"It's okay baby boy, Mommy's here," the former Mayor scooped up the child to soothe him, and after a moment little Henry stopped his crying in a smattering of hiccups and tightened his little arms around the brunette's neck. As soon as the boy settled Snow turned to the Mayor and demanded, "Change him back."

"I didn't do this!" The defense was a knee jerk reaction, and Emma saw fear pass over the Queen's features.

"We know," Emma reassured then explained, "Something magic shot out of me and hit him. It was an accident." Emma felt herself get emotional as she realized how bad it could have been, but held herself together in front of the older woman.

"Okay. It'll be alright," the Mayor soothed as she rubbed the baby's back and Emma was uncertain whose benefit it was for, but the smooth tone helped calm her own upset as well as the child's.

"I'll fix this." The older woman turned and started back toward her home when Snow grabbed her arm, "We're not leaving him here with you."

"He is my son!" Regina shouted and pulled from the younger woman's grasp.

"Emma is his mother!" the shorter brunette barked back in defense of her daughter. The loud shrill sound of Snow's voice startled Henry, and he began to cry again.

Emma closed her eyes and searched for strength deep within herself. Regina was the best option to get this accident resolved, but the tension and mistrust between her mother and the Queen was unending. She decided she would need to do this on her own, and sent her mother away. "Mary Margaret, take the bug and go home. I'll stay and keep an eye on… things," Emma said in a steady, even tone looking directly at the Queen.

The Mayor side eyed the Savior, then sneered at the Princess in prideful vindication when the blonde pressed the car keys into the younger brunette's hands. Snow hesitated again and put a hand on her daughter and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Look at him, he's good."

"You call me if you need backup," the schoolteacher said and pinned a hateful look at her stepmother.

"I will," Emma said trying not to roll her eyes and then followed Regina into her home.

* * *

Once inside, Regina bounced little Henry in her arms and held him as if she hadn't felt him in years, and Emma hung back, hovering at the dining room archway, watching the former Mayor skillfully sooth her child.

"What happened?" Regina finally asked, but baby Henry lifted his head and started to explain, "Dah mean lady yell at me and was mean and push me down, Mommy!"

Anger filled dark eyes that pinned the Savior, and Emma raised her hands in defense and said, "No one pushed him, Regina."

"Yeah!" the little boy accused and pointed at her.

Emma got defensive and exclaimed, "I did not!"

"Yeah, she push me, Mommy! Look it! Owie!" he put his little hand up to where he felt pain and Regina felt the back of his head and Emma could see from Regina's look that the kid was hurt. As soon as the brunette's fingers touched the swollen knot on his head, the baby started to cry again.

Emma fidgeted and then admitted, "I may have dropped him a little, but I didn't push him."

"You dropped him?!" Rage filled the dark eyes with purple pools of magic and Emma stepped back. "Only a little bit! He peed on me!" She motioned to her semi drying shirt as if that would explain it all.

With a disbelieving shake of her head, Regina marched into the kitchen and opened up the freezer. She grabbed a small pack of peas and placed it at the side of the boy's head and bounced him as she got him to stop crying again.

"Will you please explain to me how this happened?!"

"I don't know! I was pissed off after our fight and..."

"Magic is emotion, Miss Swan."

"Yeah well you make me emotional Regina; if anything this is just as much  _your_ fault as it is  _mine_!"

Regina scoffed and kissed the little boy's head and said, "Now is no time to lay blame."

Emma rolled her eyes and grumbled, "I love how there's no time to lay blame when that blame is being laid before you!"

"Tell me, precisely what happened."

During Emma's explanation, Regina walked baby Henry around until the boy fell asleep and then told the blonde to follow her up the stairs. She placed the sleeping boy down on his bed and magicked him into a pair of Spider Man pajamas then tucked him in for his nap. She bent down and kissed the little boy on the crown of his head, grabbed the soggy semi-defrosted bag of peas and rejoined Emma out in the hallway.

"So can you fix him?" Emma asked with a worried scowl. Now that the boy was safe she was starting to let the reality of what happened crash down around her.

"Possibly," Regina said. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough but was certain she would exhaust every avenue of solution. "You are very powerful Miss Swan, counteracting your spell will be difficult, but I don't believe it to be impossible."

Emma felt her upset prick the backs of her eyes, and she expressed her honest concerns, "I didn't mean it. God, he could have been turned into a frog or burnt to a crisp!"

The former Mayor looked over the Savior as she crossed her arms around her chest, "You are undisciplined. You need to learn control over yourself, including your magic."

Emma nodded her head and held herself together and agreed with the former Mayor, "I can do that."

"How?"

"I don't know, the fairies?"

"They are magic Emma. They do not wield it the way you and I do. Our magic is a part of us, but it is not the only part of us," Regina schooled with an eye roll.

"Fine then I'll get them to take my magic away or something so I don't hurt people." Emma tossed up her hands in her total exasperation. It had been a hell of a day, and the former Mayor's attitude problem was not helping.

Regina scoffed, "Well If you do that, you are the idiot I think you to be."

Anger rose up in the Savior, and she demanded, "What the hell else am I supposed to do Regina?"

"You could simply ask for my help."

"Like you said, why the hell would you help me?"

"Don't you know by now? I'll do anything for my son. Even put up with his imbecilic mother!"

Emma calmed herself then smirked and said, "You just called me his mother."

"Yes well, the DNA tests don't lie dear."

A blonde head shook in disbelief as she asked, "You took a DNA test?"

"You bet your grifter ass I did!" Regina folded her arms around herself and scowled at the Sheriff, silently daring her to argue further.

"Why do you have to ruin everything? Why couldn't you just let me enjoy your acceptance for five damn minutes before opening up that endless well of vitriol and sass you call a mouth?"

"I don't have to darling, I choose to," the former Mayor smoothly replied. "Why do you care what I think? I'm just the Evil Queen, according to you and this town, I'm not his real mother anyhow!"

Emma rolled her eyes and said, "You're not the Evil Queen to me Regina. You're a manipulative bitch, maybe. But you're still his Mom."

The Queen fidgeted but remained quiet, unwilling to show the blonde how that validation affected her.

When the silence extended Emma admitted, "He was so scared today looking for you, and he wouldn't come to me. I could hear fear in his cry, and it broke my heart that I couldn't help him."

Regina swallowed thickly at the heartbreak of the Sheriff and stuffed it away then offered, "Well you can help me help him, come on let's see what we can do to reverse the spell."

"Can I borrow a shirt or something? I still have baby pee all over me," Emma asked with a hint of embarrassment.

Dark eyes looked the Savior up and down then, without a word, went into her bedroom and pulled out a tee shirt for the blonde.

Emma unfolded the white cotton tee to reveal a scowling cartoon depiction of Disney's version of the Evil Queen. As realization hits, green eyes look up to meet brown.

"I expect  _this_ one back, Miss Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes and chuckled at the lunacy that has become her life as she retreated to the main bath area to clean herself up.


	3. Chapter 3

After a failed attempt by the Queen to disassemble the Savior's spell, the pair spent the better part of an hour looking through old magic books when baby Henry woke up from his nap and found them in the living room.

"Mommy, I humgry," the little boy whined, and Emma looked up to see his flushed chubby cheeks and the ball of his fist rubbing the sleep from his eye.

The Savior looked to the Queen who gave the boy a joyful greeting. She noticed immediately how all of the hardened concentration the woman's face had during their research instantly melted away into a smooth, relaxed smile at the sight of their son. The beauty that radiated from the Queen's smile forced a smile across Emma's own lips unwittingly.

"What would you like for dinner baby boy?" the Queen cooed as the boy climbed up into her lap.

"Grapes!" Baby Henry exclaimed which made Emma laugh.

The Savior's outburst drew the little boy's attention, and he asked point blank, "Why dat mean lady still here?"

Regina considered, for the briefest of moments, encouraging little Henry's skewed view of his biological mother but in the end, she pushed those dark, selfish thoughts away and explained, "Baby, she's not mean. This is Emma. She is going to stay with us for a little bit, is that alright darling?"

"Is she yor frien?"

"Yes, baby. Emma is Mommy's friend. Why don't you say hi?"

The little boy looked at the blonde stranger with suspicion and leaned into his mother's embrace and said in a tiny little voice, "Hi Em-ma."

The blonde's smile grew when she returned the greeting, "Hi Henry. I'm sorry for scaring you before."

"You didn't scare me Em-ma," he corrected then accused, "You hurt me!"

"I'm sorry for that too kid," a blush crawled up her cheeks, and she clenched her jaw swallowing down her constant self-doubt over her lack of parenting skills.

"It ok. Mommy made it better."

Emma looked up at Regina who was stroking the boy's hair and said, "Yeah, she makes everything better doesn't she big guy?"

"Uh huh!" the little boy agreed.

The brunette wiped away the stray tear that got away from her, and if Emma hadn't already been watching, she would have missed it. It was a misstep that went unacknowledged when the Queen asked her son, "Well we can't just have grapes for dinner, my Prince, what do you think about chicken nuggets?"

Large hazel eyes looked up with a matching wide smile when he clarified, "The dino nuggies?"

Regina chuckled, "Of course darling!"

The Savior could see the emotion just beneath the surface of the former Mayor as she took in every aspect of her young son. Her study was interrupted when the boy asked, "Em-ma do you like the dino nuggies?"

"Are you kidding? They're my favorite!"

The Queen tried to coax the little boy from her lap and said, "Then it's settled, why don't you stay here with Emma and I'll go make dinner for us."

"No!" Henry's little arms wrapped themselves around her neck, and he held on tight.

"Henry…"

"No! No! Mommy!"

Emma felt the rejection in her soul and tried to appease the child when she said, "Regina don't make him stay, it's fine..."

Regina's dark eyes pinned the Savior, and she hissed, "Emma… I need to use M-A-G-I-C in the kitchen, and I'd prefer to not do so in front of him."

"Oh right, okay, um…" Emma looked around the sterile living room stacked with books then turned to the little boy. "Hey kid," she asked getting his attention, "do you have any cool toys in your bedroom?"

Regina rolled her eyes, then with the flick of her wrist she muttered, "He does now." Turning to Henry, she asked, "Why don't you show Emma your Buzz Lightyear doll?"

"He's not a doll Regina, he's an action figure," Emma rolled her eyes.

"Yeah Mommy, he an actshunn figger!"

The sharp look from the former Mayor made Emma regret the correction, and she focused back on little Henry, "Does he light up and talk?"

"Yeah!" the little boy exclaimed then got up off his mother's lap and grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her toward the stairs.

* * *

As Regina prepared their meal, she considered the dilemma they were in and again worried she would be unable to break the spell. The spell itself was thick white magic that seemed to be acting as some sort of time resistant armor, and she was uncertain if the boy would grow any older than what he currently appeared. Having a perpetual toddler did not suit the Queen in the grand scheme of her life, nor did she want this to be the boy's fate. She wanted him to grow up and learn new things, explore, graduate. She wanted him to have a real life, even if all of that meant she would be a virtual nonexistent part of it.

She transported Henry's booster seat from his childhood and a few of the plastic plates, cutlery, and sippy cups from storage and plated their dinner. Making her way to the staircase, she could hear her young son's squeals of joy and Emma's comically deep voice as she played with him and she felt a tinge of regret that Emma hadn't been a part of the child's life during this time.

The remorse was followed by darker more selfish thoughts; as had the blonde been in the boy's life, Regina certainly wouldn't have been. She settled with the idea that the Savior was now able to experience this part, even if it were temporary. The peace that thought brought, genuinely surprised her.

"Henry! Emma! Dinner!" She called up the stairs then returned to the kitchen and waited for her accidental family to join her.

* * *

"Ew! Who eats peas?"

"They are Henry's favorite." Irritated dark brown eyes pinned the Savior, and the blonde sulked into her seat.

"Yeah, Emma dey good! Dey make you strong into a big boy!"

"That's right Emma, eat up your peas so you can grow up to be a big boy, just like Henry."

Emma scowled and pushed them around on her plate before asking, "So how old do you think he is?"

"Perhaps three, or almost three, judging by his vocabulary comprehension."

The little boy dropped the bright blue plastic fork he was using and held up three chubby little fingers to Emma and said, "I'm this many."

"Shit, I didn't think to ask him," Emma said absently.

"Emma Swan!"

"Shit, I'm sorry!"

Regina laid a look on Emma and hissed, "I dare you to say that word one more time."

"Shit!" the little boy exclaimed with a giggle and Regina's head whipped around to the boy, and his merriment was not hindered by his mother's obvious displeasure.

"Henry Daniel Mills! That is a bad word, and Emma is a bad girl for saying it. Do you want to be a bad boy for copying Emma's bad behavior?"

"No," the boy lost his wide smile and looked suitably chastised.

"Come on Regina, it was cute. He isn't  _actually_ three."

"It isn't cute, Miss Swan, it is vulgar, and even at  _ten_ , my son isn't allowed to use profanity. I'm certainly not going to allow it while he is a toddler!"

"God, you're so uptight!"

"I am his parent, Emma."

"Yeah well, I'm glad you weren't mine!"

"That makes two of us! I can only imagine the unruly, undisciplined brat you were at his age and I thank my lucky stars that my son doesn't take after you in that regard!"

The women stared each other down in the heat of the moment, but in the silence, a tiny sniffle pulled each of them away from their bickering when the boy suddenly started crying. Two sets of eyes looked to the fearful tears of the little boy and as if it were kryptonite to their anger for one another, tight scowls and furrowed brows eased. Regina got up and went to the boy and picked him up out of his booster seat and hugged him, "It's okay baby boy, we aren't fighting. I'm sorry Henry."

Emma looked lost, meeting the guilty look of the Mayor as she returned to her seat, unsure of how to help, so she agreed with her assessment, "Me too kid."

The boy calmed himself after a few moments but refused to leave the safety of his mother's lap. Emma tried to coax him into eating more of his delicious dino nuggies, but baby Henry declined every offer for more.

Emma stopped trying to coax the kid to eat more and returned to her own dinner then asked, "Do you think he gets that upset when we fight? Like you know, as a ten-year-old?"

Regina stroked the boy's back and considered. "I would suspect so. He has always been a sensitive boy with a strong upper lip. I can't imagine our tumultuous relationship is in any way good for him."

Emma shifted and folded her arms across her chest then said, "Then let's stop."

"Stop?"

"Yeah, Regina. We're adults, right?"

The Queen smirked and replied, "Half of us are…"

Emma rolled her eyes and then spoke with honest sincerity, "I don't want to hurt him anymore. You know, like after you figure out a way to fix all this; I don't want to upset him with our crap anymore. So let's just stop. We can be his parents, right?"

Regina raised an eyebrow and asked, "Together?"

"Yeah. I mean we've got some crap to work through, but I don't think it's impossible to manage."

"I suppose I could help you be more of a grown-up," Regina said casually as she took a delicate bite of her supper.

Emma smiled wide and answered with light-hearted snark, "And I can help  _you_ be less of a cun-"

Regina warned harshly, " _Miss Swan_!"

Emma's laugh broke the Queen of her fiery reprimand and then joined the Sheriff in her amusement. After a few moments of the women's merriment, baby Henry looked up from his safe place on Regina's lap and smiled at his blonde mother and repeated what he thought the women were laughing at, "Mith Thwan!"

This got a larger chuckle from both women, and soon they were able to coax the child into eating more of his dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**TW: Cuteness overload**

* * *

 

As their evening wore on, Emma started to lose hope of finding a solution to their little problem that night and wondered what she could suggest as a resolution to their sleeping arrangements. She sat back and watched as the Queen finally put aside the book she was studying and announced it was time for Henry's bath.

The boy was excited, which was a far cry from his ten-year-old self when the mere suggestion of a shower was mentioned. Regina held out her hand for the boy, and he happily skipped to her and practically dragged her through the dining room.

"Are you coming, Miss Swan?" Regina called over her shoulder as the pair reached the bottom of the stairs and Emma felt surprised happiness at being included.

"Henry, go pick out three toys to play with while in your bath," the Queen specified, "only three." Dark eyes looked to the Savior, and she instructed, "Help him pick something water resistant, I'll draw his bath."

With a head nod, the blonde followed the boy into his bedroom which was a mashup of big and little Henry's belongings. All of the older boy’s toys had been picked up and set high on shelves so small hands couldn't get at them, and everything that was for baby Henry was at his eye level or below. Regina had transported his pirate chest toy box full of age-appropriate toys for the boy, and as soon as he could, he dove straight into it.

"Woah kid, take it easy," Emma said as she sidestepped hard plastic toys being tossed over Henry's shoulder.

He picked out a brightly colored boat and ran over and handed it to Emma. "That's one kid, Mommy said you get two more.

"I know!" the boy called in muffled annoyance, waist deep in his toy box.

He pulled out a plushy rainbow colored leopard and handed it to the blonde, and she shook her head and said, "Plastic only dude. Mommy said…"

The boy stomped over to her and grabbed the leopard out of her hand and threw it across the room then went back to his search. When he came back, he had a Hulk action figure and handed it over as part of his choices. "One more," Emma reminded as she looked over the Hulk to make sure it didn't have any parts that would get ruined in the bath.

The boy leaned far into the box, lifting his little legs into the air, teetering his hips against the side as he dug in deep. He kicked his feet and grunted as he tugged something that moved the pile of toys that were still in the box. With a loud grunt, he pulled and almost toppled to the ground when the toy pried loose. He lifted the large dinosaur as if it were the holy grail and looked up to Emma with a wide dimpled smile.

"A T-Rex?" Emma questioned, looking at the other two items he chose.

"Him a Tyrannathorus, Emma," he corrected with a self-satisfied grin.

"Oh I'm sorry, Mister Fancy Pants," she teased. "Does he make noise?" He shook his head, and she asked to see it before approving the toy for bathtime. "Alright, no batteries, Rex is in. Come on let's go see where Mommy went," she said and handed the large toy back to him.

He turned out of his bedroom and went toward his mother's room, and she hesitated before following him, "Hey buddy? The bathroom is this way." She motioned to the upstairs bathroom, and he called back, "Baff tub in Mommy's baffroom!"

"Great," Emma grumbled then tentatively followed the small boy as he ran into the Queen's private bedchamber.

She pushed open the door slowly and poked her head inside before placing a careful step into the large elegant room. "Miss Swan!" a crisp reprimanding voice startled her from behind, and Emma jumped, juggling the toys in her hands before calming herself.

"Regina!" Emma exclaimed at the chuckling Queen as the woman inched around her, heading toward the light of the bathroom.

"Come along dear," the brunette coaxed as she flashed a devious smile over her shoulder.

"Asshole," Emma muttered under her breath then followed the brunette into the bathroom.

The boy had already stripped and was in the tub when Emma poked her head in. He was armpit deep in fluffy white bubbles and had his T-Rex skulking around within them. When he saw Emma, he hastily jumped up and reached for the toys in his blonde mother's hands. As he did, he slipped, only to have the Mayor catch him in the nick of time. "Henry!" the brunette scolded.

"Gimme!" the boy demanded, and Emma made a move to hand over the toys.

The Queen shot a look over her shoulder stopping Emma in her tracks when she commanded, "Not until you sit your little butt down!"

With a whine, he haphazardly plopped down into the tub water shooting clouds of bubbles into the air. "I'll tell Emma to go put all your toys back, is that what you want?"

"No! Mommy pwease!"

"Are you sure?"

"I sure," his defeated tone pulled at the Savior's heartstrings, but she waited until she got the okay from Regina before she gave over the toys.

"That's my good boy," Regina praised and kissed his head before getting up off of the floor and nodded silent permission for him to receive his toys.

The brunette strolled over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a medical device, much to Emma's surprise. "What's that for?"

"It's an otoscope to look in his ears."

"Why do you even have that? Isn't that like a doctor thing?"

"Young Henry was plagued with ear infections and as a result had a bilateral myringotomy surgery when he was two.

"What?"

"Tubes were put in his ears," Regina explained with a tight smile. "If your spell has recreated him in his entirety, the tubes will be intact, and we will need to take special care not to get water in his ear canal."

"Oh," Emma replied with a frown and stepped aside to let the Queen passed.

The boy kicked up a fuss, repeatedly pushing Regina away before she sighed and asked for help. "Would you mind distracting him? He is very sensitive about his ears."

"Does that thing hurt him?"

"No, I'm just looking, but the trauma of pain lingers I'm afraid," the Queen said sadly. "His ear infections were severe."

"I got bad infections in my ears when I was a kid too," Emma mentioned offhandedly. "They lasted for months."

"Months Emma?" The Sheriff shrugged her shoulder and bit her lip as she nodded her head. "Did you get tubes put in as well?"

The blonde blushed and honestly answered, "I don't know. The infections lasted till I was almost a teenager."

"I'd say you were probably untreated," the Queen deducted and considered the screaming pain her son had been in during every episode that afflicted him and couldn't imagine sitting by and allowing him to suffer in that agony for months, even years. "My god, Emma."

Emma broke eye contact with the Mayor and knelt tubside. She reached into the water and picked up the hulk toy that was at the bottom of the tub and promptly put him on the boat that floated near the boy's feet. "Uht oh Hen, Hulk is stealing the boat dude!" She made motor noises as the little green figure hijacked the watercraft.

"Tyrannathorus gonna get him!" the boy cried and made the toy creep up under the water toppling over the boat sending the hulk to a watery grave.

"Oh no!" Emma cried. "Hulk!"

"Stealing bad."

Emma smiled wide at her child then looked to his mother who'd successfully checked the boy's ear. "Well?

"Tubes are intact. We'll need to be careful washing his hair," the Queen informed and got up from the floor to put away the otoscope.

"Regina?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Looking out for him."

"He is my child, Emma."

"I know," the blonde admitted with a sad half smile.

 

* * *

 

Once Henry finished his bath and put to bed, Emma broached the topic with the Queen she'd been thinking on for several hours.

"So, I guess we aren't fixing him tonight, huh?"

"It seems as though your magic is stronger than I anticipated, so no, not tonight," Regina escorted the younger woman from their son's bedroom out to the hall.

Emma turned and shifted uncomfortably before suggesting, "So I guess I'll go home and come back in the morning?"

"I suppose, unless you think I'll do something dastardly to him overnight," the Queen lifted an eyebrow in challenging question.

"Okay. I uh, guess I'll call my mom to come and pick me up," Emma mumbled and turned heading toward the staircase.

"You'll trust me with him alone?"

The Sheriff stopped and looked back with a shrug of her shoulders, "We've got to start somewhere, don't we?"

"I…' Regina's open mouth paused as she searched for the words she wanted to say. "Yes. Yes, we do."

Emma pulled out her cell phone and turned back toward the stairs, when Regina put a hand on her arm, "Wait. You can stay in the guestroom tonight if you like. This way you won't miss anything. He won't be this small for long, and I know I cherish every memory I have of him at this age."

Emma looked up, and emotion caught the sentiment in her throat, and she simply nodded her head in silent agreement.

 

* * *

 

Emma was pulled from her sleep by high pitched giggles as her son crawled up her sleeping form. "Em-ma! It time for wakes!"

Rough sleep-ridden eyes parted as she feigned unconsciousness until the boy put his hands on either side of her face and yelled, "Emmmmmmmaaaaaaa!"

She surprised him by jumping up with a roar and crashed him down on the other side of the bed, tickling him until he squealed in laughter. It was then that she noticed the Mayor standing in the doorway looking over the pair as they played.

"Good morning," Emma said as she covered her underwear-clad bottom with the bedsheet.

"Good morning dear. I'm about to start breakfast. Henry would like blueberry pancakes, is that acceptable?"

"Uh, only totally."

"Alright then, I trust you can keep our little Prince occupied while I prepare our meal?"

Emma smiled and then lifted Henry's shirt and blew a zerbert onto his belly causing him to explode in giggles.

 

* * *

 

After breakfast, Regina set Henry up with some cartoons and toys, and the women started back to work on looking through the Queen's magic books. After several hours of getting virtually nowhere, Emma sighed and closed the book she was reading with a huff.

"The kid is going to be collecting social security before we figure this out."

"Don't be so dramatic."

"I'm not," she defended then amended, "Okay a little, but there's gotta be an easier way."

"Easy isn't always better Miss Swan. We've barely begun. The Dark One has more books on magic, but I'd prefer to not delve into dark magic to reverse this spell if we can avoid it."

"So that's dangerous right?"

"It can be to the inexperienced, yes."

"Yeah but you're not inexperienced."

Regina fidgeted in her unease, "No, but the idea of working that kind of magic on my son, makes me apprehensive."

Emma scowled deep in thought then said, "Alright well if you're apprehensive, then I'm apprehensive." She shook the troublesome thoughts away and announced, "I need a break, my ass is asleep."

"Miss Swan!"

"Mith Thwan!" Baby Henry mimicked breaking the tension.

With a smile, Emma asked, "Can you like magically poof me home so I can get some of my own clothes and my car?"

Regina looked as stunned as she felt and asked, "You trust me to transport you to another location magically?"

"Again, we gotta start somewhere right?"

Blinking away her shock, Regina replied, "Very well, in the kitchen then, so a certain someone doesn't get scared."

"Okay, just outside of the loft, so I don't freak anyone out."

As soon as Emma disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke, Regina returned to the living room and sat down with Henry while he played with his dump truck full of matchbox cars."Hi Momma," he greeted absently.

"Hi baby," she replied with a smile when he returned to his playing. "Henry?"

"Yeah?" he asked without looking up.

"I love you."

"I wuv you too, Mommy."

With tears in her eyes, she leaned in and kissed his head and tried to gain control over her emotions. "What would you like for dinner, my Prince?"

"Grapes!" he exclaimed and threw his hands in the air and giggled.

"Alright, well we'll need to make something more than grapes baby. Let's go see what we've got shall we?" She reached out her hand and without hesitation he instantly took it and got up.

It had been almost a year since her son hadn’t looked at her without some sort of suspicion or apprehension at her motivations and her heart quietly broke remembering this time when she held his love and complete trust.

If only she could get that trust back.


	5. Chapter 5

When Emma arrived home, she found David and Mary Margaret standing in the kitchen with Archie Hopper, having a discussion.

Worried uncertainty crossed the blonde's face, and she asked, "What's going on?"

Mary Margaret looked up with hope in her eyes and asked, "Is Henry back to normal?"

"No," Emma looked cautious and greeted the mild-mannered Doctor.

"Where is he?" her father asked looking around the blonde's feet.

"At home. I just came to pick up some clothes while I take a break from the books."

"You left him there, alone?" Mary Margaret exclaimed in her worry then shot her husband a silent look of disapproval.

"He's not alone, he's with Regina," the Sheriff replied as she hung up her coat and stepped further into the apartment. "So I don't mean to be rude, but what's Archie doing here?"

"I called him," David announced. "I wanted to know what kind of psychological damage the Evil Queen could have on him in this state. Doctor Hopper thinks it's dangerous for him to be in that house. She could easily turn him against us all."

Emma turned to Archie and asked, "You think my son is in danger?"

"Wuh… well I do-don't know exactly, but I would imagine this process and the Evil Queen's penchant for abusive manipulation would be detrimental to the boy's development in his current fragile state," Archie defended as his face turned red with embarrassment.

"Abusive? Regina isn't abusive…"

"The standards of abuse is subjective Emma."

"No, it's not. Like at all. She isn't abusing him."

"Maybe not today," Snow carefully approached her daughter. "You weren't here for the first ten years of his life, and most of us only remember bits and pieces of the last 28 years. I know how she is with children Emma, better than anyone in this room."

Emma shook her head in disbelief and refuted, "Henry is different. She loves him."

"She claimed to love me too, once upon a time," the brunette reminded sadly.

David interjected, seeing his daughter wasn't taking their concerns seriously, "Maybe she won't abuse him, but I think leaving him alone with her is a bad idea. She could take him and leave town, and none of us would ever see him again."

"No, I don't think she'd do that," Emma turned from the group who seemed to be closing in around her as her mind played out scenarios where she was out in the real world looking for her lost child. When the boy first came into her life she'd wanted to run and be rid of him and the trouble having him in her life seemed to bring, but now, now she couldn't imagine not participating in his upbringing. She couldn't imagine not having him in her life, watching him grow up, seeing who he turns into.

"Honey, I know your instinct is to see the good in people, but trust me, I know Regina. She can not be trusted." Her mother's words snapped her from her inner fears, and she turned back to face the pixie-haired woman who wanted nothing but to love her. A woman whose own child had been taken and perhaps it wasn't by the Evil Queen's hand herself, but the woman was responsible for the decision her parents made to give her up.

Archie stepped forward and said, "She has shown sociopathic tendencies towards other children. Other than your mother. Children she claimed to care about. She's separated children from their rightful parents, for fun. She gets joy from hurting those around her, and I'm afraid you are putting your faith in someone who is undeserving." He looked into Emma's eyes and added, "I know you want to believe that Henry was in a good environment growing up, but as his therapist, I can assure you, it wasn't healthy."

Emma shook her head and demanded, "If it wasn't healthy then why didn't you remove him from the home? Call social services?! DO something? I read your notes, remember Doctor? There was nothing in them that even suggested she was an abusive parent!"

"I...I…" The ginger man looked to the Savior's parents for help, and Snow stepped forward. "You don't understand what the curse was like Emma, if Regina wanted something, that something happened. If she didn't want it to happen, it most certainly didn't."

Emma shook her head in disbelief. She felt confused about what concerns her parents brought up versus the time she'd spent with Regina. The unsaid emotion in the woman, their verbal agreement. There was no way she was lying. Emma could tell. Even before the curse broke when the Mayor was actively lying to her, Emma knew. There was no way she could fake the emotions she's seen in the woman over the last 24 hours.

_Could she?_

She shook the self-doubt from her head and recent memories flooded back in of baby Henry sitting on the brunette's lap while the woman concentrated on looking through magical manuals in order to change the child back. How she looked at him and spoke soothing things to him in a way, no adult had ever done to Emma as a child. "Guys, I appreciate your concern, but I've got this. The cycle of trust has to start somewhere. I think…"

"You think I haven't tried that with her?" Snow defended, pleading for her daughter to understand.

"We all have Emma. We've all given her chance after chance, and all we got in return was disappointment and betrayal," David added sadly.

"And a dark curse that stole our child away. We don't want that same fate for you sweetheart."

"All we are asking you to do is keep your sense about you. Don't leave her alone with him. If she leaves town, you'll never see him again," Archie interjected but kept his eyes lowered. His thin-lipped tight smile dug into the Sheriff, and she scrutinized his entire demeanor. Something was off with the good Doctor.

"Fine. I'm going to go get some clothes, and then I'm heading back. Where're the keys to the bug Mary Margaret?"

Snow turned to her husband and gave him a look before answering her daughter, "In the bowl."

Emma packed a few things then tried to reassure the trio before grabbing her keys out of the ceramic bowl by the door, then headed back over to the mansion.

* * *

Popping the trunk, she pulled her duffle bag out then went up to the door and considered just walking in. She was a guest now, right?

Instead, she knocked, then waited for the Queen to grant her entrance. She knocked again after about ten seconds and waited a bit longer. She shaded her eyes and looked through one of the panes of glass that lined either side of the door, looking for movement. When she didn't see any, she pounded on the door with the side of her fist and yelled, "Regina?" Out of instinct, she tried the doorknob, and it was, of course, locked.

The all too quiet of the home chilled the Sheriff, and she dropped her bag on the porch then stepped off to look up at the second-floor windows to see if she could see anything. When no movement was seen, she started to feel panic and trotted over to the garage to see if she could peer into the frosted glass of the door. The garage was dark, and the side door was closed, and she couldn't see if there was a car in there, but she also couldn't see if there wasn't. Her panic hit a fevered pitch as Archie Hopper's words came back to haunt her, " _Don't leave her alone with him. If she leaves town, you'll never see him again."_

" _Oh my god!"_

She felt the entire world shift as she made her way back to the front of the house where she left her bag on the stoop. She had difficulty grabbing her phone from the side pocket. Her mind was racing, her hands were shaking, and she couldn't make her fingers work properly. The device slipped from her hand, skidding and bouncing across the cement breaking open and releasing the battery into the shrubbery that lined the walkway. "FUCK!"

She bent down to pick up the pieces, fumbling the device back together in her rush. Through her peripheral vision she noticed the black Mercedes Benz pull into the driveway. She dropped the plastic pieces and rushed to the vehicle as Regina was getting out of the driver's side. "Perfect timing, dear, you can hel…"

Regina looked up just as the Savior pulled back a right jab. The former Mayor quickly froze the blonde in place using her magic. She sidestepped the Savior then unfroze her and watched as the blonde tumbled to the ground. The Mayor demanded as she stood over the woman splayed out in the gravel, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Where the fuck were you?" The Savior screamed as she pulled herself up off of the driveway.

"Food shopping. Henry asked for grapes again so I figured I'd get some and stock the rest of the house since I was running low with unwanted company."

"Food shopping?"

"Yes, it's what adults do dear. What else would I be doing?"

"I… thought…"

Dark eyes narrowed, and Regina asked, "You thought what?"

"Nevermind," the blonde grumbled then made her way passed Regina to the back of the car.

The former Mayor grabbed the Savior's arm and wrenched her around and repeated her question. "You thought  _what_?"

"It doesn't matter Regina, let go of me."

The Mayor's grip tightened around the Savior's arm, and she hissed, "I want to hear you  _say_ it, Miss Swan."

"Ow! Let me go!"

Regina threw the blonde's arm away and barked, " _Say it!_ "

"I thought you took him! Is that what you want to hear?!"

Hurt passed over dark eyes before receding into an icy stare, " _Right._ "

The brunette turned and popped the trunk of the car and began unloading bags of groceries without another word. Emma watched the woman go and felt conflicted about what had just transpired. She'd never been so scared in her life, and that included the time she was arrested and was sent to prison. Losing her child wasn't acceptable. She couldn't live through it.

"Are you going to help me or just stand there like a slack-jawed imbecile?" The Mayor's voice was thin in her own upset and snapped Emma from her fears. She looked into the back seat of the car and saw that baby Henry was asleep then proceeded to help the former Mayor carry the groceries into the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Regina settled Henry down for his nap, she returned to the kitchen where the Savior was doing her best to put away the food she'd purchased. Emma looked up from the pantry when Regina walked into the room and met the older woman's icy gaze before quietly returning to her busy work. They worked in silence and when everything was finished Emma watched the brunette stalk out of the kitchen, through the dining room and into her study where she promptly, and firmly, closed the door.

Emma rolled her eyes and took a deep breath and did exactly the opposite of what she knew the brunette wanted her to do and marched up to the door of the woman's study. As she lifted her hand to knock on the solid oak door, she heard the distinct sniffle of the older woman's upset and froze, reconsidering her position. Everything she'd witnessed. Everything her mother had told her to be true. Archie Hopper's concerns and what she knew before the curse broke. About Henry. About his time with the good Doctor and Regina's lies. More important than Regina's lies, her reasons behind those lies.

She may have betrayed the boy's trust, but really what else was she supposed to do? Tell him she was the Evil Queen? Tell him she'd cursed an entire realm, including his biological family? Emma herself had lied to the kid to protect him from uncomfortable truths, and maybe they aren't Dark Curse level truths, but the lies were no less self-serving. Regina had more to lose by revealing her truth to Henry than Emma had. So the woman lied.

Emma abandoned her quest of intrusion and went outside and picked up the pieces of her cell phone and called her friend Ruby Lucas.

"Dude your mom is tripping balls," Ruby said in lieu of a greeting then spit toothpaste from her mouth.

"Yeah, I know," Emma replied defeated.

"Is the kid okay?"

Emma turned and sat on the cold stone of the Mayor's front porch and answered, "Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"Can I ask you something about Regina?"

"The Queen? Or the Mayor?"

"The… uh, mother," Emma answered and bit her lip with worry.

"Okay…"

"She didn't hurt him did she." Emma asked the question as if it were a statement then specified, "Like when he was little."

"God no. She loves the shit out of that kid. I think it was the only time I'd ever seen her really happy, why?"

"Mary… uh... Snow thinks Regina hurt him. Like abused him."

Ruby heartily laughed on the other end of the line, and when she calmed herself, she wholeheartedly denied the accusations. "There's no way that woman hurt him like that. I love your mother, but she gets crazy twisted up when it comes to the likes of Regina Mills."

"What about after he started questioning things?" Emma pushed knowing the answer.

"I'm telling you, dude, she never laid a hand on him. Ever."

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Emma considered what else she wanted to know then asked the biggest question in her heart, "What about running away with him? Like now. Do you think she'd be desperate enough to do something like that?"

"I think if you weren't in his life, absolutely. She'd be long gone by now."

Emma scrunched up her face with confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think she knows it would hurt him if you were suddenly gone. That's why when you tried to leave when you first got here, you couldn't. She stopped you."

"She  _stopped_ me?" Emma exclaimed in disbelief. "She made me miserable for months trying to get me to leave Storybrooke  _and_ Henry!"

"Maybe, but the curse bent to her will. If she truly wanted you gone, you would have been able to leave."

"Archie said something like that. That it bent to her will. He said he had suspicions of child abuse or something but couldn't call for help because she didn't want him to. Could that be true?"

"I mean, from what I understand of it, yeah, but dude, I'm telling you. There's  _no way_  that kid was abused. Snow is my best friend, but I'm not caught up in the Princess White hoopla. She was just a girl to me. A  _bandit_ even. A friend. If I were you, I wouldn't get too bogged down in the masses blind devotion to her royalty. Think of it like a bunch of idiot fangirls getting dewy over a celebrity. They'll do anything for her attention."

"So he'd lie for her?"

"Lie is probably a strong word, but stretch the truth to please the Princess? Absolutely."

Emma stood up and started to pace. She knew there was something off about the Doctor she could feel it in her bones. "Jesus, isn't Jiminy Cricket supposed to be like a moral compass?"

"Before he was a cricket, he was a thief, a con artist, and a professional liar."

Emma stopped pacing and asked dumbfounded, "Seriously?"

"Sorry to burst your Disney bubble yet again kiddo," Ruby said with a chuckle.

"Damn." Emma went over the conversation with her parents and the Doctor with a fresh set of eyes and wasn't happy with how this new information repainted the concerned warning she got from the trio.

"Yeah I know we're all a huge disappointment," Ruby said flippantly.

Emma snapped out of her inner thoughts and defended, "Not all of you. I think it's cool you're the wolf because Little Red Riding Hood's story in this world is super lame."

"I know right? How could anyone mistake a wolf for Granny?"

"Well, maybe after a few drinks… She does get snarly," Emma laughed.

Ruby teased, "I'm gonna tell her you said that!"

Green eyes got large with worry, and the Sheriff exclaimed, "Don't you dare!"

Emma finished up her call with the wolf and filed the new information away to think about another time then picked up her duffle bag off of the porch and entered the former Mayor's home. The TV was on blasting baby shark in the living room, so Emma set her bag down on the floor next to the door, uncertain if she was still a semi-welcome guest in the older woman's home then made her way toward the happy music.

Regina was sprawled out on the floor building an intricate structure with thick building blocks that looked like giant legos and Henry was singing and pantomiming along with the song. He was hopping up and down and pointing to himself during the baby shark part of the song. Emma carefully entered the room and took a seat on the end of the couch and just watched the baby version of her son play.

He ran over to Regina and pantomimed a larger shark mouth during the Mommy shark part of his song which elicited a genuine laugh from the brunette on the floor. Emma could see the woman had applied an extra layer of makeup since she'd gone outside for her phone call, but it didn't entirely hide the swollen redness of her eyes.

Henry ran over to Emma and did the Daddy shark part of the song toward her and coaxed her to join him. Once she did, he squealed and ran from her over to Regina and jumped on her prone form, hiding his face. Emma stopped her pursuit as soon as he climbed on top of the brunette and felt guilt for intruding upon their time together.

"Go on baby, go sing the rest of your song with Emma."

"I can't!" The boy replied and buried his face into Regina's back.

"Sure you can," Emma coaxed, taking the older woman's statement as permission. "Come on, Grandma Shark doo doo doo doo to doo," she sang.

"No!" the boy exclaimed.

"Why not?" Regina asked, turning herself so he could crawl up into an embrace, which he did as soon as her body allowed for it.

"I dun has a gramma chark!" He explained in a huff.

"Oh," both women said in unison then made eye contact with each other as if assessing what the other wished to do about their son's upset.

Emma cleared her voice then asked Regina in a low tone, "Does he think I'm his Daddy Shark?"

"Baby," Regina addressed the boy and continued when he looked up at her, "Do you think Emma is your Daddy Shark?"

The little boy shrugged his shoulders with embarrassment and broke eye contact.

"I'm not…" Emma started, but Regina cut her off by explaining, "Emma is another Mommy Shark.  _Your_...  _other_ Mommy Shark."

"But," the boy looked over at Emma with suspicion and asked in a quiet tone, "But you're still my Mommy Chark, right Mommy?"

Emma could hear the upset in the Queen's voice when she answered her son. "I will always, always be your Mommy Shark baby boy, as long as I breathe air."

"So I has two Mommy Charks?!" the boy warily looked up at his mother than at his newly found other mother and both women nodded their heads.

Regina smiled down at the boy and kissed his head and stated, "As for your Grandma and Grandpa Shark, Mommy's are in heaven, but Emma's are still here, and they love you very much baby boy."

The boy settled down against Regina, his attention drawn to the next cartoon that came up on the television. With the boy preoccupied, Emma said with sincerity, "Thank you."

"It's the truth, Miss Swan." Regina refused eye contact with the Savior as she made her announcement that she would be starting dinner for them all and then got up and left them.

After about 15 minutes of the kid be engrossed in the show he was watching, Emma got up and followed the former Mayor into the kitchen. "Hey," Emma said when she saw the woman wasn't preparing their meal at all but was instead leaning against the counter with a glass of red wine.

"I left you in there with him for a reason."

"I'm sure you did," Emma said nodding to the woman's choice of beverage. "Can we talk?"

Regina rolled her eyes and turned from the Savior and started pulling out ingredients from the refridgerator. "I don't believe we have anything to discuss."

"I disagree."

"What a surprise," the older woman drawled with sarcasm.

"I just mean… I'm sorry. For how I behaved earlier."

"Don't be," the woman said flippantly over her shoulder. "You did me a favor really."

Emma pulled in her brow with confusion and asked, "How's that?"

"I'd deluded myself with such an obvious lie, and your show of aggression cured me of that delusion, so really, I should thank you."

Emma closed her eyes and clenched her jaw until she felt discomfort in her molars.

"Now, will you kindly return to the living room to watch over  _your_ three-year-old? They can get into the darndest things lightening quick."

Emma felt the sting of tears at the back of her eyes and shook her head and took a step closer to the brunette and thought about how she could explain. The things her parents said, how they pleaded for her to trust them. How the Doctor got into her head, turning her worst fears into possibilities. How she didn't truly believe it until she arrived at the manor and they were gone. How her world crashed around her and her fears were suddenly realized even for the ten minutes it had taken the Mayor to show back up at the house with a sleeping Henry safely tucked away in the back seat of her car.

Emma Swan said none of that. In the face of the Mayoral Mask, Emma stepped away and returned to the living room where her son was watching Paw Patrol.

* * *

After a quiet dinner, Emma was left to tend to Henry's night schedule on her own and the lack of the Mayor did not escape the little boy. He'd asked for her repeatedly, and Emma tried her best to soothe him and made excuses as to why the woman wasn't a part of their routine. She felt like a divorcee of a deadbeat dad explaining to her child why daddy wasn't reading him bedtime stories anymore. She was annoyed by the brunette's behavior but also felt guilty for her part in making the woman pull away. It wasn't fair, to any of them.

During his bedtime reading, he interrupted Emma and asked, "I dun fink you can be my Mommy Chark, Emma."

She looked up and felt her heart break just a little, then pushed aside the feelings of rejection and reassured, "Okay buddy."

"Yeah, I fink you can be my Daddy Chark doe."

"Your Daddy Shark? How come?"

The little boy shrugged his shoulders, and she coaxed, "Would you  _prefer_ to call me your Daddy Shark buddy?"

His little head nodded slowly.

"If that's what you want. I think that's okay." Emma pressed her lips to the boy's head and thanked a higher power for this time she had with him.

"Yeah, cuz I already has a Mommy Chark," the boy looked up at her and added, "She a good Mommy Chark."

Emma swallowed thickly and agreed, "I know kid. She's the best Mommy Shark, isn't she?"

"Yeah and I dah bess Baby Chark," he exclaimed behind a smattering of giggles. Emma tickled his tummy and agreed with him, "You are the  _best_ Baby Shark."

His little arms wrapped around her and he added, "You dah bess Daddy Chark, Emma."

Her emotion kicked up, and she felt the tears instantly fall from behind her eyelashes as her heart felt full of his love and acceptance. He was her family. The family she'd always wanted, and she'd almost let him slip through her fingers. If it hadn't been for the boy showing up at her apartment in Boston, she would probably never know this love she was suddenly unable to live without. She kissed him and hugged him tighter and whispered through her upset, "I love you, kid."

When she got ahold of her emotions, she tucked him in then finished the rest of the Cat in the Hat.

The Savior marched downstairs prepared to have it out with the brunette over her intentional absence from Henry's storytime when she noticed that all of the lights on the first floor were out and the woman was nowhere to be found. She trudged back upstairs and saw the light from under the brunette's door go out as she approached the oak door. She hesitated and considered knocking and making a fuss but thought it would probably just make the situation worse so instead, she retreated back to her own room and made herself ready for bed. Putting Netflix on, she settled in and tried to push the day's events out of her mind.


	7. Chapter 7

The tension in the house could be cut with a knife and everyone involved was affected. Regina resumed engaging with her son but gave Emma the cold shoulder of arctic proportions. She kept her distance and for most of the day stayed in her office and worked. The one time Emma attempted to offer help, a crisp, "Get out," was barked with such force the blonde had little choice but to leave the woman in peace.

Mid-afternoon a frustrated cry was heard, followed by a loud thump and Emma looked up to where the office door remained closed. After several moments she heard another thump and rose to her feet. Slowly, she made her way to the door, and when she placed her ear to the wood, a third thump startled her back. She looked toward Henry, who seemed perfectly content playing with his toys, and then opened the door to Regina's office without the ceremony of seeking permission.

The Queen was standing over her desk with her back to Emma, and the state of the office was in disarray. Books and loose papers were scattered over every inch of the place. The Savior took in the scene then cleared her voice for the woman who clearly hadn't been made aware of her presence.

"What do you want Miss Swan?"

"Are you throwing a temper tantrum, Madam Mayor?"

Dark eyes shot a look back at the blonde, and the former Mayor grumbled, "The sooner I solve this little problem the sooner I get my home back to normal."

Emma raised an eyebrow and suspected the woman did not mean their son. Knowing her as well as she did, she devised a plan to get them past this issue and baited, "If you want me to leave, just say so."

The Mayor hung her head and said with a sneer, "I want you to leave."

"Okay," Emma simply replied and turned to leave the office and the woman's home.

In her panic, Regina whirled around and yelped, "Wait! I didn't mean it! Please don't take him!"

"I'm not," Emma said over her shoulder. "I'll be out of your hair in ten minutes."

Regina shifted uncomfortably where she was rooted and asked in a voice Emma had never heard come from the confident woman, "You'll leave him here with me? Unsupervised?"

"I said I trust you," Emma turned and laid a look on the Queen hoping to convey everything she wasn't able to say to her. "I trust you with the most precious thing we both have."

True to her word, Emma packed up her belongings and set her bag on the floor next to the front door. She smiled wide when Henry came running in from the other room, Regina trailing behind.

She picked up the smiling happy boy and tossed him into the air just to hear his cute baby squeals then squeezed him close and kissed his chubby cheek. "I'll see you later okay kid?"

"Where you going?"

Emma looked Regina in the eye and said, "I've got some stuff to do big guy, but I promise I'll miss you for every second I'm gone."

Little arms wrapped themselves around her, and he parroted the sentiment with, "Me too." Wiggling from her arms, he ran back into the living room.

"You have my number if you need anything," Emma said to the brunette who was standing solid and stoic in her foyer. Regina tightly nodded her head and watched as the blonde picked up her bag and left her home.

* * *

"But you said he was comfortable with you Emma; you should bring him home." Mary Margaret turned to pour her daughter a mug of hot cocoa then set it down on the counter.

Emma dropped her bag at the foot of the stairs and came over to her mother and sat at the counter and replied, "So he can sleep on a cot in my room instead of a bed in his own bedroom?"

"We'll get a crib! It'll be private." Green eyes filled with joy at having a baby in the house she could coddle.

"He's three. He doesn't need a crib, and he already has a bedroom that is private, at Regina's."

"The Evil Queen clearly can't fix this Emma, she probably doesn't even want to," the brunette commented offhandedly. "Blue said she could, easily, and we can put this whole thing behind us."

Emma's eyes squinted in disbelief, "Blue can? She told you that?" When Emma brought up the notion of the nuns using magic to resolve the issue, Regina explained to her how the women used outside magical items such as dust or wands to tap into their inner magic and how all of that was a roundabout way of accessing it. Elemental magic was the strongest kind of magic as it is raw in how it is used. There was no conduit needed to access it. Regina used the comparison a lightning bolt versus static electricity.

"Of course she can, fairies are made of magic Emma, they can do anything."

"I'm the Savior, made of true love or whatever. My magic is stronger than anything Regina has ever experienced, including the Dark One. I think your groupies are just telling you what you want to hear." Emma smirked and took a sip of her cocoa then got up and got out the cinnamon then sprinkled some on the top of her drink.

"Blue is a very honorable woman Emma. She wouldn't lie to me."

The tone of the brunette rubbed Emma wrong, and she countered, "Maybe not, but how about for you."

"What?"

"Like Archie did," the Savior accused. "I asked around town; no one saw any abusive behavior toward Henry before the curse broke. No one likes Regina, but every single one of them said she was a good mother," she bluffed.

The bluff was believed, and the brunette started to backtrack, "She may not have abused him, but a good mother? She manipulated him! She made him think he was crazy! Made him feel like he didn't know who he was! She lied to him every day when she said she loved him! Every day when she made him believe she was his mother!"

Emma pushed aside the fact the woman all but admitted deception and yelled, "She is his mother!" The sorrowful eyes of the brunette closed in rejection and Emma continued, "What part of I gave him up don't you get?"

"You had no choice, Emma! Because of Regina, you gave him up!"

"I gave him up because I was 18 and in jail Mary Margaret."

The brunette shook her head and insisted, "That wasn't your fault!"

"It abso-fucking-lutely was!" Emma countered. "I got into that situation all by myself. I'm not going to blame Regina for my poor choices."

"She's the reason why you were in a position to make those poor choices!"

"If you want to play the blame game, I could lay some of that blame on you!"

"I had no choice, Emma!"

"There's always a choice," Emma sighed then shook her head. "Look I don't want to argue with you about this."

The brunette folded her arms around herself and circled back around to her point, "She lies to him about everything. Everything she feeds him is a self-serving lie! I know better than most how abusive that is!"

Emma's anger resurfaced, and she exploded, "I've lied to him, Snow! I lied to him about his biological father! I did it for selfish reasons! It may have been a mistake, but it sure as hell wasn't abuse! You clearly have no idea what actual psychological abuse is Princess."

"She is going to take him like she took you from me and I don't want you to feel that pain Emma! You have no idea the hurt of losing a child!"

Emma stood to her feet and waited for her mother to realize she did know the hurt of losing her child. Giving Henry away had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. She waited for the woman to clue in, but she didn't. That fact sparked her irritation, and she licked her lips then pressed them together as not to say anything she will later regret, then silently turned and walked up the stairs. When she heard Snow move to follow her, she grumbled over her shoulder, "If you know what's good for you, you won't put a single foot on these stairs."

Satisfied her mother was frozen in her tracks Emma climbed the rest of the way up and into her bedroom. She knocked the few keepsakes that adorned her dresser off onto the floor in her anger then flopped down onto her bed. She hated arguing with the Princess, and she hated having to defend Regina's actions. The pixie-haired woman didn't understand, all she saw was the Evil Queen. The little brunette was angry, and perhaps she had a right to be, but not because of Henry and Regina's relationship. The anger Mary Margaret felt seemed far more personal than that.

She laid on her bed and thought about her interactions with the Mayor since she came to town. Every argument, every power struggle, every fist fight. The context was of course more than Regina trying to keep Henry, but that was always the heart of it. Emma saw the boy as part of her, and he seemed as unhappy as she'd been herself as a child and perhaps that clouded her view of the situation. Granted Regina's cuntastical way of handling her and the situation only bolstered Emma's fight response, and things just went from bad to worse.

Since the curse broke and Regina's true reality was revealed to her, she has gone out of her way to take her anger out on the Queen, just as everyone else had. Thinking about the woman playing on the floor with her son was so far removed from the Evil Queen persona people see, and Emma felt conflicted. Perhaps her son changed the woman. Perhaps their child could heal them both.

* * *

Emma stayed in her room for the remainder of the night and had a restless sleep thinking about the situation she currently found herself in. Trust for her didn't come easy, but she also felt as though she had little choice but to take a leap of faith with the surly brunette. They seemed to be on the right path until Emma panicked and this gesture, as scary as it was, could be how the mistake was fixed. She had to show Regina her trust through action, not just words. The woman was stubborn and cynical and stubborn; the only way to get through to her would be to place the one thing that meant the world to Emma in the palm of the brunette's hands and then walk away. She only hoped she didn't end up regretting it.

Her cell phone rung out with Regina's ringtone, the Imperial March, which made Emma smile every single time the woman called her. It had been a pre-curse dig at the woman that seemed to get funnier once the truth about the Evil Queen was revealed.

Emma answered the phone after she settled her chuckles then cleared the sleep from her voice and asked, "Hey, is everything alright?"

"I need you to come over, promptly." The older woman's voice sounded strained, and Emma began to worry.

"Did you find something?"

"No."

She waited for the woman to elaborate, but when she didn't she coaxed an explanation with, "Okay…?"

"Henry misses you."

Emma's features relaxed and she decided to tease the brunette just a little. "It's okay to say you miss me, Regina, you don't have to use the kid."

"Yes Miss Swan, I missed you." The snark was subtle in the Queen's voice, and Emma's eyebrows raised high in her surprise when she asked, "Really?"

"With every bullet," the former Mayor deadpanned. "Will you come over for breakfast?"

The blonde rolled her eyes and decided to needle the woman a little while longer before jumping at her beck and call. "Depends, what are you making?"

Her attempts at pushing the woman's patience was a success when the irritated sigh was heard before the woman answered, "French toast."

Green eyes lit up, and she decided to play nice in the face of getting a home cooked breakfast and exclaimed, "Woo my favorite!"

"I'm aware." The admission was poorly covered by a throat clear, and Emma smiled and replied, "I'll be there in 15."

"Miss Swan?"

"Yeah?"

"Bring sleepwear."

A wide smile crossed the blonde's face, and she chuckled, "You did miss me, I knew it!"

Emma could practically hear the Mayor's eyes roll through the receiver as they disconnected the call and she leapt from her bed and packed her bag.

This was a step in the right direction. This was an olive branch. Her favorite breakfast and a low-key invite back to the manor was the Mayor's way of apologizing she surmised. At very least, it was a start.

* * *

Emma arrived at the Mayor's mansion with a few moments to spare, and when Regina opened the door, 30 pounds of energy blew passed his mother and jumped into Emma's arms.

She returned his hug and greeted, "Hey kid!"

"You're back! You're back! Daddy Chark is back!"

"Of course I'm back dude, I'll always come back for you." Emma returned his hug and pecked little kisses around his face and neck causing him to squeal in laughter.

Regina stepped aside and allowed the blonde to carry her son into her home and corrected the boy as they entered, "Henry, remember what we talked about? Emma isn't your Daddy Shark; she's your Mommy Shark."

Emma turned to Regina and corrected her correction, "He has a Mommy Shark."

"He has two Mommy Sharks," Regina insisted.

"Yeah, but I'm okay being Daddy Shark," Emma admitted with a shoulder shrug.

Confusion was plainly seen on the older woman's face when she asked, "Why?"

"I'm not trying to replace his Mommy Shark. She's a great Mommy. A really great Mommy. Besides Daddy Sharks are cool. I get to be the big shark that protects Baby Shark."

"And the Mommy Shark!" Henry added with a head nod.

"And the Mommy Shark," Emma mimics and tickles the boy's tummy.

"And the Mommy Shark?" Regina asked hesitantly as the pieces of what that could mean fell together in her mind.

"Of course. My Baby needs his Mommy." Emma broke eye contact with the Mayor when the woman's features started to blush. She put the boy down and followed him further into the house leaving the brunette to consider their newly forming dynamic on her own terms.

Eventually, the Mayor joined the pair in the dining room where Emma was strapping their son into his booster seat and serving up the breakfast that was prepared.

"So what's on your agenda today, Madam Mayor?" Emma was riding high on the apparent success of mending bridges and thought perhaps some shark family fun was in store for the little makeshift family.

Dark eyes scrutinized the blonde when she answered, "Research of course, why?"

"I thought maybe we could take today off and take the kid to the P-A-R-K?" Emma spelled the word for Regina as to not excite the boy if the Queen refused the offer. She had no intention of painting Regina as the bad guy.

The brunette smirked knowingly and nodded her permission then added, "We could have a picnic if you'd like." The suggestion was quickly brushed off with a bland excuse, "It is a beautiful day."

Emma took a big bite of her breakfast and hummed her appreciation. "I'll never decline eating anything of yours."

"Except perhaps my apple turnovers, dear?" A teasing smile crossed the woman's full lips, and Emma chuckled and agreed. "Yeah, I think we're passed sleeping curses, and poisons aren't we Madam Mayor?"

"Perhaps," the darker woman quipped and took a dainty bite of her own breakfast. The Savior looked down at her partially eaten breakfast and figured if it was poisoned it was already too late and picked up another bite dripping in syrup and defiantly put it in her mouth.

"Picnic picnic picnic!" Henry chanted as he held his hands in the air with excitement.

"Later this afternoon," Regina gently reminded. "Mommy may be on to something to resolve this little issue we have."

Emma looked up startled by the revelation, "You found something?"

"Possibly. A legend of a wand of sorts that streamlines spell replication. I need to know more, obviously, but it's promising."

"A legend? That sounds… side questy."

"I suspect it is in the possession of the Dark One, no need to search the realms."

"He is a bit of a hoarder," Emma replied absently. Regina let out a surprised laugh, and Emma's eyes grew wide when she added, "Don't tell him I said that."

"Coward," the Queen quipped with a wink.

"Yeah well, Daddy Shark is no used to anyone belly side up."

"A Crocodile is no match for a Daddy Shark dear."

Emma couldn't contain her smile, and she cooed, "Awe! I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

The brunette slit her eyes in mock annoyance and replied, "Don't get used to it."


	8. Chapter 8

As Regina retreated to her office, Emma took a moment to reply to several missed calls from her mother. She felt guilty that she'd argued with the woman even though she didn't necessarily regret her stance. She did regret losing her temper with her. They were still getting to know each other, adapting to this new relationship seemed to be much easier for the brunette than it was for Emma herself. Going from friends to a parent-child dynamic wasn't something Emma ever thought she'd ever have to deal with. The situation was crazy, and she wasn't handling it as well as her mother was.

**Emma: Everything is fine. I'm back at Regina's.**

Snow texted back as if she were holding the phone in her hand willing it to ring.

**Mary Margaret: Are you bringing Henry home?**

**Emma: No, but we may have something to help change him back.**

**Mary Margaret: Such as?**

**Emma: I'll let you know if it is a viable thing.**

**Mary Margaret: Blue thinks it could be dangerous to allow Regina to perform dark magic on him.**

**Emma: No one said it was dark magic and frankly I care very little about what that fairy thinks.**

**Mary Margaret: She has been a confidant, a beacon of hope and my friend for a lifetime Emma.**

**Emma: I know you have blind devotion when it comes to her, but I don't. I don't trust her.**

**Mary Margaret: But you trust Regina?**

**Emma: I trust Regina's motivations because I can plainly see them, Snow. Your little blue buddy, she's a snakey bitch.**

**Mary Margaret: Emma Swan!**

**Emma: I'm sorry, I'm trusting my gut on this.**

**Mary Margaret: Over your own mother's word?**

**Emma: In regards to my son? Hell yeah. I've known my gut longer.**

Emma waited for another immediate response, but when she didn't get one, she put her phone down and focused back on Henry and the tower he was building with his blocks.

After several moments she felt her phone buzz on the couch cushion, and she picked it up to read the response from her mother.

**Mary Margaret: Since you have nothing to do, would you bring Henry here for a visit this afternoon? Your father and I would love to see him and experience this time with him at this age.**

The Savior rolled her eyes at the presumption and texted back.

**Emma: Maybe tomorrow, Regina and I are bringing him to the park for a picnic this afternoon.**

Without a response, Emma huffed and closed down her device and then got down on the floor with Henry in order to help him build his tower. 

* * *

The family arrived at the park, and as Regina laid out the blanket near the duck pond, Emma ran after Henry who chased after the few unfortunate ducks that happened to be in the area. Once the kid ran out of energy, Emma carried him back to Regina, set the kid down and looked over the banquet level spread the woman laid out. "How the hell did you do all of this?"

"Mmmmagic dear," the Mayor replied with a wink.

"Right. I forget it exists sometimes."

"I know you do. You should really get accustomed to it dear; you are extremely powerful."

"So I've heard. Is that going to be part of what you teach me Madam Mayor?" Emma asked with a shy smirk.

"Control will be our…" The Queen's words were cut off as the woman looked over Emma's shoulder in curious question.

"What is it? Emma turned to see what she was looking at. "Snow?" Emma said with confusion, and then realization dawned on her when she saw the Blue Fairy and several of her nuns stalking the family, surrounding them. The women got to their feet, and Emma asked the pixie-haired brunette, "What are you doing?"

"Blue is going to fix this  _right now_  so everything can go back to normal."

"Hand him over Your Majesty!" Mother Superior hissed as the circle of nuns got closer.

The Blue Fairy pulled out her wand and the eight or nine other nuns followed suit and Emma backed up into Regina, sandwiching a scared and crying Henry between them. As the fairies pooled up their collective magic, Emma screamed, "DON'T!" As her bellow echoed in the afternoon park, she suddenly smelled the spicy cinnamon of Regina's magic behind her and realized the woman and the boy were gone.

Before she could gather her senses, her mother called, "You see Emma? She doesn't want to turn him back!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Anger flashed in green eyes as the realization of what just happened washed over her.

Snow got closer to the angry blonde and started to explain, "If she did, she wouldn't be here in the middle of the park she would be working on a way to fix him!"

Emma let her anger rise and opened her mouth and yelled, "The park was my idea, Mary Margaret! The kid has been cooped up for days while his mother has tirelessly searched for a safe resolution! I'm trying to mend bridges here! The only person who is putting my son's life in danger is YOU! I'm warning you, dro-"

A white cloud enveloped the Savior, and she found herself in the dining room of Regina's home, shouting at the wall, "p this or you will be sorry!"

Emma, startled by her unexpected relocation, turned to face her upset son and his livid mother.

"I'll be sorry? What the hell was that Miss Swan? An ambush?" The brunette demanded, and her tone kicked up Henry's cries as he clung to the woman's thigh.

Her surprise faded, and Emma shook her head in denial. When she saw the walls of the Mayor start to shoot back up, she rushed the woman in her fear and exclaimed, "Regina! I'm Daddy Shark! Remember?" Her close proximity startled both women but neither pulled away. The Savior lifted a tentative hand and caressed the older woman's cheek and tried to pull her from her anger. "I'm Daddy Shark. Daddy Shark protects Mommy and Baby Shark. I'm sorry that happened. I won't let them take him, and I won't let them hurt you."

Dark eyes studied anxious green, and she slowly pulled away from the Savior's gentle caress, anger melting in the spark of something much different. The brunette bent down and picked up the crying boy and hugged him as his arms and legs wrapped themselves around her in a tight koala hug. She stroked his back and shushed his fearful, confused cries. Emma's eyes met Regina's, and she leaned in close, too close, and laid a gentle kiss on their son's head and whispered a promise to both of them, "I won't let anyone hurt you."

* * *

The incident at the park had Emma furious. She felt betrayed by the Princess' insistence as if the woman didn't trust her judgment in regards to her son. As if she thought Emma was making a mistake and instead of listening to reason, she was simply forcing her hand. Regina had unwittingly added fuel to the fire when she informed her the fairies could have actually caused the boy harm had they tried to forcefully pull apart the Savior's spell. She was certain her mother was unaware of this fact but suspected that perhaps the nuns knew of the risk and that pissed her off even more.

Not to mention the conflict had Henry extra clingy and when the Mayor left him with Emma to retrieve her vehicle and picnic supplies he'd screamed the entire time she was gone. There was nothing the blonde tried that helped the situation and so she finally just picked him up and sat down on the rocking chair and silently rocked them both until the brunette returned. As soon as the woman did, he stopped crying, but stayed adhered to her hip for the remainder of the afternoon.

After an early dinner, Regina carried Henry into the living room, took out a candle and set it down on the coffee table in front of Emma.

"What's this?"

"Magic lessons. Light the flame," the brunette simply said then got the boy comfortable on the couch and turned on something he would watch.

"Uh… what?"

"I suspect your magical teleport this afternoon was an accident, was it not?"

Emma looked surprised and asked, "That wasn't you?"

"It wasn't me," the brunette confirmed as she picked up the remote and turned the volume back down to a decent level.

"Then yes, total accident," the blonde replied and looked blankly at the candle.

"That's highly dangerous. We need to you get control of your magic before something happens. You could have ended up anywhere."

Emma pulled her features down in worry and asked, "Like the middle of the woods?"

"Like the middle of a tree." Dark eyebrows shot up and looked directly at the blonde in order to convey the seriousness of the situation.

"Oh."

"So, for your first lesson, dig deep, focus on what you want to accomplish, then visualize your success then make it happen."

"That's all?"

Regina scoffs, "That's plenty."

The brunette turned to walk out of the room, and Emma demanded, "Where are you going?"

"To take a relaxing bath. Keep an eye on our little Prince will you dear?"

Emma thickly swallowed as she watched the woman's hips sway as she strutted toward the staircase. She looked back toward Henry when his mother was no longer in view and said, "I can do this right?"

The baby giggled and shook his head no then busted out into a smattering of laughs at Emma's disapproving scowl. "Have some faith kid!"

"You can't dew it!"

For the first hour of trying, the kid was right. She did as she was instructed, to the letter, and then waved her hand and nothing happened. The boy had long since lost interest in what she was doing and was busy putting together a puzzle on the table next to her, and her frustration grew.

She heard the brunette return from her bath and enter the kitchen, and Emma felt like maybe this wasn't something she was going to be able to do. She considered for a moment just having someone bind her magic and be done with it, and the thought of the Blue Fairy came into her mind. The look of malice on the woman's face that afternoon stoked Emma's anger.

In one smooth move, Emma gently flicked her wrist and the flame ignited. In her surprise, she exclaimed, "Holy shit! Regina! I did it!"

As the brunette entered the living room, Henry leaned in and blew out the candle Emma was so proud of and yelled, "Happy Birfday!"

"What?! NO! Dude?!"

"Do it again, Miss Swan," the Mayor instructed gently. "Come on Henry, time for bed."

The baby rubbed his eyes and flopped back on the couch cushion, "Noooo I not tired!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it is time for bed Mister."

"Mom-my!"

"Don't Mommy me. Give Emma kisses and let's go, darling."

"Emma come too!" the baby version of their son pouted, and Emma couldn't help chuckle at his attempt to get his own way. The blonde looked up and saw the smile Regina was trying to stifle before the woman relented and said, "Alright. Emma too. Let's go Miss Swan."

Emma laid on one side of the boy and listened while Regina sat primly on the other and read to them. With the fresh air and excitement of their day, Henry didn't last long before he passed out cold. Once Regina noticed the boy's unconsciousness, she closed the book and got up from the bed.

"Oh man, that was really getting good!" Emma whined.

Regina shushed her with a warning in her eyes and the blonde reluctantly got up from the bed, kissed the sleeping boy and then followed the brunette out into the hall.

"You are entirely too invested in Olivia Pig's adventures."

Emma shrugged her shoulder and replied, "Maybe it wasn't so much Olivia as it was hearing how you tell it."

"Was that a compliment?"

Emma scrunched up her nose in mock distaste and said, "I certainly hope not! What would the neighbor's think?"

Regina narrowed her eyes, then lifted one eyebrow in a silent question. A question that did not get answered as Emma smiled and then put her hand on the Mayor's upper arm and said, "Thanks for letting me be a part of this."

"Do I have a choice?"

"You do, actually. I know it wasn't Henry's idea to ask me to come back and I'm really sorry about this afternoon. Thanks for believing me when I needed you to."

Regina's cheeks pinkened but replied with a silent, tight nod.

The blonde smiled and said, "Good night Regina."


	9. Chapter 9

Regina awoke from a restless night as Henry clambered across her bed to snuggle into her. She wrapped her arm around the boy drawing him up fitting him against her; she whispered, "Good Morning baby boy!"

"Mornin Mommy! It time to wakes Emma?"

"Oh you liked waking her up did you?" The boy nodded his head in big embellished nods which made Regina chuckle. "Alright then, let's go wake her up."

The boy cheered then wiggled his way out of her cozy embrace and made his way out into the hall. Regina slipped into a satin robe that mostly covered her skimpy sleepwear and followed him toward Emma's bedroom.

The boy put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Mommy you help tickle, okay?"

"I don't think that would be…"

"Mom-mie!" the boy whined and demanded, "Yor hands are biggur! You help!"

She appeased her son with a reluctant nod and then slowly followed him into the sleeping woman's bedroom. She watched as the little boy climbed up on the bed as carefully as he could and wondered how the blonde hadn't been awoken with such a blundering disturbance. The boy smiled wickedly and wiggled his little fingers down the blonde's back and tried his hardest to hold in his giggles as he said, "Tickle tickle tickle!"

He looked back toward his brunette mother and whispered, "Now Mommy! Tickle her!"

Just as Regina bent over and made a motion to tickle the bottoms of the Savior's feet the woman sprung up, startling both brunettes. She grabbed Regina and quickly dragged her into the messy bed, and was on top of her in an instant. Sitting astride the woman's hips, she dug her fingers into the brunette's sides, ripping unrestrained, gasping laughs from the Queen.

She took turns tickling both her son and his mother and only stopped when both cried for mercy.

Once everyone calmed themselves to heaving breaths, Regina commanded, "Miss Swan you may get off of me now."

"Mith Thwan!" Henry mocked, and Emma turned her attention back to the boy and tickled him until he squealed then focused back to his mother who lay breathless beneath her. "May I now?"

Regina's thick swallow was visible when she silently nodded her head.

"Alright, but first you need to admit that I'm the king tickle champion of this house."

"What?"

Emma leaned in close, resting both hands on either side of the Queen's head and repeated herself, slowly.

"I will do no such thing, now move." Regina attempted to get up and push the wiry blonde off of her, but she clenched her knees and prevented the Queen from getting up.

"Nuh uh, say it." Emma licked her lips as a teasing smile crossed her face.

Regina firmed up her tone in the face of the Sheriff's smug look and informed, "You'll have to pin me down to this bed for all eternity because there is no way in freezing cold hell I will ever utter those words."

"I've got all eternity." Emma looked to the little boy who was losing his smile in the face of what could be an uncomfortable power struggle between his mothers. Emma returned her focus back to the Mayor and leaned in and whispered into the woman's ear, "It's okay to give in sometimes."

A shuddering breath breathed into the blonde's hair, and the woman replied, "Right, then go ahead Miss Swan… give in."

"Okay, but you asked for it." Emma got up and off of the brunette then coaxed their anxious son up into her arms and bounced off of the bed.

The brunette felt the absence of the Savior acutely and struggled to reign in this new tension she was experiencing with the blonde's proximity. She sat up on her elbows and demanded, "I asked for what?"

Emma's fingers tickled their son in her arms and then gently let him down and watched as he ran into his bedroom. She looked back at the older woman who was the most disheveled she'd ever seen her sprawled across her bed. The royal purple robe was twisted and riding up the woman's thighs, and as if they were a magnet for green eyes, Emma took in the abundance of skin. Breaking herself from hypnotizing flesh, she licked her lips and stated factually, "I'm now forced to prove that title belongs to me."

Regina eyed the woman then got to her feet and marched over to her and pinned her between the door and her body and began poking her fingers into the blonde's muscular abdomen. The Savior didn't fall into the uncontrollable laughter she expected, instead, the blonde's breath caught and her muscles clenched, but no other movement was detected.

After a moment Emma informed with a smug smirk, "I'm not ticklish." Regina's fingers stilled but didn't pull away from the tight abdomen of the Savior. "Anywhere?"

"Anywhere G rated." Emma drawled with a smirk, and Regina pulled her hands away realizing all she was doing was caressing the other woman then took a step back. Emma stepped into her, and then again when Regina retreated until Emma had her pinned against the wall. "Now that you know you can never win, would you like to save yourself several mornings of being tickled awake and crown me King now?"

Regina swallowed and considered her options. She was certain the Savior meant every word she uttered, and she was a big enough pain in the ass to follow through on the threat. "How can you not be ticklish?"

"I had a foster brother who had 70 pounds on me and would hold me down and tickle me until I peed my pants. He did it every day for a month, and after a while, the tickles started to be painful instead of funny."

"He sounds lovely."

Emma shrugged and admitted, "It ended the day I hit him in the side of the head with a four by four. He ended up in the hospital, and I got a psych eval and a new home."

Brown eyes lowered, and the brunette said in a low tone, "I'm not appalled by your action toward the boy."

"Yeah, I wasn't the only kid he tormented. He was a dick."

Regina nodded her head then looked back up at the Savior and stated quietly, "You are the King tickle champion of this house."

"I know," Emma smiled smugly as the brunette's eyes slit in mock annoyance, and she added, "But thank you for crowning me your King, Your Majesty."

The Savior backed away from the stunned Queen and chuckled as she trotted off to look for their son.

* * *

The angry tension that has always been between the women started to dissipate in their newly acquired co-habitation, and they fell into a schedule that seemed to work for both of them and their toddler. Their days were filled with magic work and research, each of them taking turns amicably with caring for their son while the other focused on work and nights filled with family fun and joint bedtime schedules.

This day Emma's task was that of levitation magic, and she was feeling apprehensive about learning the new spell as it was more advanced than anything she'd tried thus far. She was enjoying learning magic, which was saying quite a bit as she never really enjoyed any of her formal education as a student. She struggled in school because she moved a lot as a child, often in the middle of the school year. She got behind the other kids and was unable to catch up. Eventually, she ditched the entire idea of a formal education figuring it wasn't ever going to apply to her anyway so why try.

She was surprised to find that the brunette was a patient teacher, encouraging her with a praise and reward system that seemed to mold into her learning style seamlessly. Soon she was able to do things she'd never dreamed possible, and Regina was there every step of the way.

"Levitation is a little more difficult than the fire, which you've seemed to have mastered…"

"Damn straight I have!" Emma exclaimed and flicked her wrist and lit the row of candles on the mantle. Regina drew up her fist and put the candles out and continued with moderate irritation, "In this lesson, what you are essentially doing is changing the object's mass, but also controlling its trajectory."

"That sounds like Calculus level Science, Regina."

"It's Physics dear. Calculus is Mathematics, not a Science."

"Either way, they are both way above my pay grade," Emma said with a blush.

Regina lifted the dimpled chin and forced the Savior to meet her gaze and replied, "You are an exceptional student dear. Listen to the instruction, and I believe you will have no problem with this task."

Emma blinked away the sudden tears that statement caused and silently nodded her head with acceptance. Regina placed one of Henry's small wooden blocks on the coffee table in front of Emma and began explaining in minute detail how to reach in, harness her power and lift the block. With concentration, Emma followed the brunette's instructions.

After nearly a half an hour. the Savior slumped back on the couch and huffed, "I can't do it."

"You are exercising a muscle you've never consciously used before. It will take time to get it to flex on command," Regina encouraged. "Keep trying."

The brunette returned to her book, and Emma remained motionless completely dejected. After a few moments of inaction, the Mayor commanded, "Keep trying, My Liege."

"Your what?" Emma let out a surprised laugh. Without looking up from her book, Regina stated simply, "You are King, are you not?"

Emma's laughter calmed, and she smirked, "I am."

"Then, keep trying, My Liege."

With renewed vigor, Emma sat up and resumed attempting to lift the block with her magic. After another hour of trying she finally got the light wooden block to float up and her eyes filled with pride when she called the older woman's attention to her success.

"Very good Emma. Set it back down and lift it back up."

Emma pulled her features close with concentration and did what the woman requested of her. After several successes the block got away from the blonde and flew across the room, shattering a vase on the mantle. "Oh shit!"

"Miss Swan!"

"Mith Thwan!"

Regina sighed, and Emma said, "Hey, at least he chose to mock you instead of cursing, right?"

Regina closed her eyes and pooled her patience then flicked her wrist and fixed the vase and brought the block back to the table with magic and silently returned to her book.

"I'm sorry."

"Keep practicing. You're getting better. You're focusing too hard on the spin. Less is more dear."

"Subtlety isn't my thing. I'm more of a guns-a-blazin kind of girl, Regina."

"Yes both myself and my poor apple tree have vivid memories of your blazing guns, Miss Swan."

The blonde licked her lips as she processed what the older woman said and then wondered if she was simply referring to how she destroyed half a tree to get the Mayor's attention or if she was talking about how she looked while doing it. She was caught staring when brown eyes flicked up from her book, "Less is more."

The light encouragement toward her studies signaled to the Savior that the woman was referencing the destroying and not at all the way she looked while destroying. Emma shook away thoughts of an impassioned Mayor inches from her face and all of the feelings those thoughts kicked up and focused back on the little wooden block sitting on the coffee table.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TW: for a little violence at the end**

The women stood in the doorway of their son's room and watched the boy sleep. Everything from that day was clockwork and the domestic cohesion the women enjoyed lightened both of their moods.

"Will you go back to levitation practice? Or…"

"No, I was just going to watch some TV on my phone, I don't want to disturb you." Emma hesitated and asked, "Unless you think I should practice more today?"

"No, I think you grasped the lesson skillfully. Tomorrow we'll try two blocks."

"I can't wait." Emma's eyes rolled down the brunette then asked, "Are you going back to your books?"

"No, I believe I've learned as much as I can from them about the scepter."

"I thought it was a wand?"

Regina scrunched her nose and answered, "The texts are unclear."

"Awesome, I love vague instruction manuals." Emma fidgeted and asked, "So are you going to bed then?"

"No. I…" Regina broke eye contact and shifted her weight before asking, "Would you like to have a drink with me?"

"As long as it isn't wine, count me in."

"Does cognac suit you dear?"

"Whatever you got. I'm easy," Emma said with a shoulder shrug.

A smirk crawled across the darker woman's face, and she drawled, "Are you now?" Before the blonde could respond, she turned and headed downstairs.

"To please, I mean," Emma called after her then rolled her eyes when the Queen started to chuckle.

"Of course, My Liege," Regina teasingly called over her shoulder. The hair on the back of Emma's neck prickled as the words the Queen spoke coiled around her. She was uncertain when things started to change between them, but she noticed that they had and once she noticed, she could no longer not notice the change in their dynamic. The charge between them now that the spark was lit was undeniable.

After picking up a few scattered toys from the living room floor, Regina handed a tumbler of mahogany alcohol to the younger woman, and Emma took a large gulp.

"One does not chug fine cognac darling."

Emma swallowed the mouthful of booze and asked, "Is it fine?"

"It's fifteen hundred dollars a bottle, it damn well better be."

Emma choked on her next gulp, and the brunette chuckled at her expense. "Yeah, I'd classify it as fine. That bottle of booze is worth more than my car."

"Dear, your high tops are worth more than your car."

Emma pulled her features down in mock annoyance and said, "Oy! Lay off the bug!"

Regina sniggered and got comfortable next to the blonde on the couch.

The Savior side eyed the older woman and asked, "Is it wrong that I'm enjoying this time with him as a little baby?"

"He is a toddler dear, he isn't even in diapers, hardly a baby," the Queen quipped then answered, "but no it's not wrong."

"I'm sure it seems silly to you, but this is all new to me and I just… I don't know, I know it won't last, and I don't..." The blonde was getting used to the younger version of her son, and it wasn't like she didn't want the boy to be his rightful age, she just missed out on so much and this experience has shown her how much of the boy's life she'd actually missed.

Regina fidgeted and leaned her arm against the back of the couch and propped her head against her fist and admitted, "It isn't silly; frankly I feel the same."

"Yeah but you have memories of him in all of his chubby cheeks and Spiderman pajamas."

"Long ago memories Miss Swan, from a time when he loved me." Regina downed her drink and got up to refresh it.

"He loves you, Regina. He's just mad and hurt and feels betrayed."

"Rightfully so," the sadness in the Queen's eyes startled the Savior as she returned to her seat on the couch.

"Do you regret lying to him?"

"I regret the situation that forced my hand." The brunette looked down at her drink and explained, "By the time I got him, it was already too late. I'd already walked down my path and am suffering the consequences for doing so. The ultimate price of my revenge; I've lost my child. Do you have any idea how it feels to…" The Queen stopped the thought mid-sentence and looked into pained green eyes, "Yes, I suppose you do."

Emma bit her bottom lip and failed to stop the tear that slipped out from under her eyelash, then said, "I don't know how you feel. Not after raising him and loving him to have him turn and leave you. I gave him up for adoption, which was damn hard, but it was my choice. I don't think the two compare."

Regina shrugged and said, "No matter the circumstances, his absence is painful in both cases. Do you regret giving him up?"

"No. Not until he showed up out of nowhere and dragged me to this town." The blonde bit her lip then said, "Not until I got to know him."

Emma made a motion to set her empty glass down when Regina took it and got up to refill it.

"I don't regret it now though," she amended. This time she's spent with the Queen had really opened her eyes to the woman's relationship with their son. That mother-child bond she'd never known herself.

"You no longer regret giving him up?" Regina handed her a fresh drink then sat a little closer on the couch. She could see this topic was a sore subject for the blonde, and if she was honest for herself as well, and offered comfort to the younger woman.

The blonde shook her head and explained, "He…" She swallowed down her emotion and quickly said, "He had a good life here. A better life."

"That doesn't mean you can't regret not being a part of that life."

"I do," Emma agreed and leaned her head back against the couch and looked at the brunette sitting next to her. "But… you're amazing with him."

The Queen pulled a tight smile, "Being his mother is everything to me." She broke eye contact with the blonde and said, "I see him like this and part of me thinks I have a chance to do things right by him, but I know that isn't what this is. This isn't a second chance for me. This is a second chance for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You get a glimpse at a part of him you missed out on." The Queen rolled her eyes, "I'll admit I'm a little jealous."

The Savior lifted her head and asked, "Why?"

"Because after this debacle, you will have a stronger relationship with him, and I will still be the Evil Queen in his eyes." The former Mayor held together her emotion as best she could under the circumstances, and Emma smiled warmly, "Not if you choose a different path Regina. He will forgive you. You just have to show him that you are trying to be a better person."

She scoffed a mirthless chuckle and asked with disbelief, "Do you honestly believe I could be a better person Emma?"

"I do."

"You truly are a fool."

"Maybe, but the only person who has to believe you can do better is you." Emma covered Regina's hand with her own and added, "But for the times you don't totally believe, I still do."

This gesture the younger woman afforded was brimming with compassion and where the woman was touching her caused goose flesh. The soft pad of her thumb absently caressed her knuckles, and Regina imagined how it would feel elsewhere on her body. It'd been a lifetime since she'd taken a female lover, but never one with this many… complications.

From the moment the blonde walked into her life she'd been drawn in. Beyond her control or comprehension, she had feelings about the Sheriff. Loathing, jealousy, lust, fear, hope, despair, admiration. Every feeling felt at maximum.

When the woman was close, she felt alive and this time they've spent together, getting to know each other, just made that all more intense.

Another soft brush of the Savior's thumb across her knuckles and Regina jumped up from the couch. She would require smooth liquid courage for what she was considering, so she took Emma's glass to top her up as well. She poured them each a fresh drink, and when she sat back down, she admitted, "I'm starting to delude myself again."

"Oh good, just how I want you," Emma snarked with a half smile trying to make light of what the brunette admitted to.

"How exactly do you want me, Miss Swan?"

Suddenly dark eyes pinned the Savior and the question that was asked seemed far heavier than the words on their own would suggest. The sentiment hidden in the question snaked its way into the Savior, and she felt the attraction in all of its raw power.

"De... uh… luded?" Emma looked down at the Queen's plum lips that seemed fuller under brandy goggles and before she was even aware of what was happening the Queen leaned in and pressed those lips against hers.

For the longest moment, she felt the rush of pure adrenaline, and the soft wet lips held to her as if they were waiting for her acceptance. Emma pushed her glass blindly onto the coffee table and then pressed into the sweet kiss that was offered. Mouths opened, hands explored, tongues searched, and both women fell into the attraction that had been pulling them together for months.

Emma felt a wave of calm wash over her, a sense of contentment that she'd only ever felt once before in her life. It was happiness. Genuine, open, walls down happiness and suddenly Emma couldn't breathe. Panic and fear replaced the calm, and she stiffened up in the Queen's arms. Hands stilled, and Regina pulled back with a question in her eyes, "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this," Emma blurted out then got up off of the Queen and off of the couch and all but sprinted towards the front door.

She ran.

She ran across the street, across the field beyond and only stopped running when her legs were burning, and her chest was heaving.

She thought about how everything between her and Regina, how good it was. Finally after months of strife and the push and pull of their relationship. How peaceful it is between them and their son. She'd extended the olive branch. It was she who pushed for this amicable peace they achieved. Could she jeopardize it all over a kiss? She was attracted to the older woman, but there was so much between them.

A lifetime of mistrust and betrayal.

Generations of hate and revenge.

Unspeakable wrongs.

Could she forgive it all, including her childhood, at a chance for something more with that woman? If she was being honest with herself, she'd already started to forgive her for things that happened long before she was born. Was this next step such a leap? It was terrifying, but it also felt more right than anything else in her life.

Then there was that kiss.

It wasn't like she kissed Regina. Regina kissed her. That meant the woman felt something and dared to act on it, even under several glasses of fine cognac, that was still pretty courageous.

Emma turned back and looked toward the house she'd sprinted from and whispered, "And I ran like a coward." She closed her eyes against her disappointment and cursed under her breath. Now even if she wanted something more with the woman, Regina would resist it completely.

Did she want something more? There was no way she'd want some casual fling with her kid's other mother. Could she take the chance at this being some game the Queen was playing? Seduce her arch nemesis' daughter for the ultimate revenge? Did she think that was a possibility? With everything, they'd been through? No. Not now. She meant what she said to the woman while they were on the couch. She believed Regina could be better.

For Henry. She was in a unique situation now where she has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

So did Emma.

Her panic was triggered by the powerful connection between the Queen and herself. It was something she felt only once before, with Henry's biological father. He'd pulled her in with promises of a future then betrayed her trust in the worst possible way. By his doing, she ended up in jail, and her life had started a tailspin that lasted the bulk of her twenties. Could she open herself up that way again? She knew if she wanted something with the Queen she would have to. There would be no half-assing it with Regina Mills. It was all or nothing, and she decided, she wanted it all.

When she arrived back at the mansion, it was pitch dark and a cool weight sunk in the pit of her stomach knowing the battle she had ahead of her. She tried the door, and of course, it was locked.

She used her newfound magical knowledge to twist the deadbolt knob on the opposite side of the door and smiled in self-satisfaction when the high pitched click sounded as the bolt fell into place. She opened the door with a smug look and entered the dark house.

She headed up the stairs and straight to Regina's bedroom. She tentatively knocked and when the woman didn't answer she firmed up her resolve and pounded on the door. "Regina?" she said loudly into the wood of the door, and when she called the woman a second time, the door was ripped open, and a furious Queen stood before her. "Miss Swan! Shut the hell up! You're going to wake Henry!"

Emma took in the comfortable nightshirt, wild, unkempt hair and puffy red eyes. She'd been crying. She felt a pain in her chest as if her heart had literally broken in two. It was her actions that caused this upset in the Queen. Her fear. Her.

The woman had taken a chance, and she'd been denied.

Emma shook her head and said a quiet, "No." This wasn't how their story played out — dejected and angry — crying alone in their mutual solitude over what could have been.

Sometimes you have to punch back and say no! This is who we are.

"No," she repeated more firmly.

Before she could second guess herself, she barged into the older woman's bedroom and took her up in her arms. She crashed their lips together, and until she felt a sharp pain, she assumed everything was going to be okay. She thought the woman would just understand and know that she wasn't being rejected. Emma had a momentary lapse, and now it would be okay.

It wasn't.

At all.

Regina bit into her lip and drew blood, pushing the younger woman away from her with a snarl.

"I'm sorry," Emma gritted through the pain and wiped the blood from her lip. The Queen slapped her and Emma lost her balance. When she recovered, she grabbed a fist full of dark hair and backed them against the far wall and yelled, "God damn it, I'm sorry!"

The Queen struggled under the Savior's strength and yelled back, "I don't care!"

Emma pressed her weight against the struggling brunette and insisted, "You do!"

She believed it. She could see it in everything the Mayor did. Every word she chose. Every look. She felt what the woman showed her was affection. Or as close to affection as she was willing to express openly. Trust was an issue on both sides, and Emma knew if she wanted something passed the aggressive flirtatious aggression they'd had since they first met, she knew it had to be her that dragged them there.

The Queen broke free and landed several open-handed slaps against the blonde's upper torso causing her to shrink back under the stinging pain. Emma pushed her off of her then rushed back into her while she was off balance and tried to pin her against the wall.

Regina regained her footing faster than the Savior anticipated and slipped out of the attempt and used her momentum to slam her into the solid wall then barked, "You must be out of your mind to think I give a fuck about you!"

Emma shook off the collision and yelled back, "Maybe! But I give a fuck about you!"

"Clearly! Is that when you're taking my son away or when you're literally running from your intimacy issues?" Emma got back into the Queen's personal space, and the brunette attempted to slap her, but she dodged the blow and wrapped herself around the Mayor and pinned them against the wall and roared, "I said I'm sorry!"

The Queen struggled and gritted back, "And I said, I don't care!"

She lifted the Queen up, and the woman instinctively wrapped her legs around the Savior's hips. The soft groan was swallowed as the brunette grunted in an effort to wiggle free.

She dug her fingers into Regina's hips and hovered close to the woman's sneering lips and spat, "You make me fucking irrational! I hate that I love how you turn me inside out!"

The brunette arched her back and used the momentum to topple them to the floor and breathlessly laughed at the Savior, "So you're a masochist?"

Emma rolled them over once she recovered from the fall and pressed her hips into Regina's open center. "Evidently! Because I love how I feel when I'm near you. Even when you make me hate you! I love how you feel. I can't put you down. I can't stop…" Emma panted as she circled her hips and added, "I don't want to ever stop."

"Emma…"

Emma kissed her full on the mouth then pulled away and panted breathlessly, "Tell me you feel it."

The Queen groaned into the Savior's mouth, "Fuck you!"

Long fingers grab hold of dark hair, and Emma wrenched the woman's head up, so their eyes met and demanded again, "Tell me you fucking feel it!"

She could see the older woman's pupils grow in desire and she leaned in and once again took possession of her lips. She rolled her hips, thrusting them into the brunette's core, drawing out a groan from the smaller woman.

The Queen kissed her back and rolled them over so she was on top and suddenly pulled back so she could look down. She grabbed the Savior by the chin and shoved her away in disgust.

Pale fingers slid up her thighs, under the oversized tee shirt and gripped the Mayor's hips. It was as if the icy fingers of the Sheriff reached beneath her skin, rooting her to the only place she wanted to be. Leaning in close to the blonde's ear she replied in a deep voice, "I feel it."

In surprise, the Savior turned to look at her, and for a long moment, they stared into one another's eyes. Everything unsaid passed between them, and Regina leaned in slowly and kissed the blonde. When the gentle tentative kiss was deepened, Regina rolled her hips, pressing her center into the firm abdomen beneath her and moaned into soft lips.

Emma hummed her approval and saw that kiss as acceptance and the sense of euphoric calm returned to her, but instead of hiding from it, this time Emma Swan embraced it. She embraced it wholeheartedly and silently vowed never to let it go again.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina stirred as a little body cuddled into the front of her and her eyes startled open when she felt a larger body curl up around her back. Her mind flooded with every second of the previous evening, and she felt a heat of embarrassment cascade over her body followed promptly by an awakening of desire.

_Then panic._

She'd let the Savior in, and in one brief moment of weakness, the blonde forced herself into the Queen's inner sanctum. It felt deliciously warm in the safety of Emma's arms, and that memory triggered others so familiar. Another life where that safety was ripped from her, and she was thrown into madness as a result.

"Good morning," Emma said into Regina's wild curls and snaked her arm around her hip and pulled her and their child closer.

"Emma, don't…"

The blonde shushed the Queen and whispered, "Let me enjoy my little shark family for a minute before you open up your big fat mouth and ruin it."

Regina snapped her mouth shut in surprise and scowled. After a moment she turned her head and said, "My mouth is not fat."

"Maybe not, but it is surprisingly  _talented_ ," Emma replied then chuckled when the older woman gasped.

After a moment the brunette asked, "Did you just refer to me as part of your family?"

Emma nodded her head and offhandedly said, "Well technically, you are my baby momma."

A look of displeasure crossed the Mayor's face; she narrowed her eyes and replied, "If anyone is a baby momma in this scenario, Miss Swan, it is you."

Emma laughed and replied, "Okay, only technically!" she pressed her lips against the shell of the older woman's ear and said, "I'd be okay if you wanted to call me your baby Daddy."

The Queen exclaimed, "You're insufferable!" Emma fell into a fit of laughter and cuddled closer to the brunette and their son.

Henry lifted his head up seeing that the women were obviously awake and announced, "I'm humgry."

Regina focused on the boy in order to distract her feelings away from the warmth of the Savior curled around her and cooed, "Let me guess, my little Prince wants grapes?"

His head nodded, and Emma asked, "Do you eat anything other than grapes?"

The little boy shook his head no with a wide smile and Regina suggested, "How about some porridge?"

"Ew! What? Like Goldilocks?" Emma asked horrified.

"Like  _oatmeal_ ," the brunette deadpanned.

"Is that what it is for real?"

"Oatmeal is a kind of porridge, but not all porridge has oats. I was just putting it into terms I thought you'd understand."

"Oh," Emma replied sheepishly then asked, "So I can't talk you into pancakes?"

Regina lifted the boy and deposited him on his blonde mother then got up from the bed and wrapped a robe around herself. "I'm afraid not dear. I'm going down to Gold's Pawn Shop to make a deal to get the scepter we need to restore our child."

"I'm coming with you," Emma said in a serious tone.

"I do not require your assistance," the cool tone of the Mayor was shot over the woman's shoulder as she walked into her closet.

Emma got up from the bed and pulled her discarded tee shirt on and said, "Yeah well you're getting it. That asshole tried to kill you once I'm not giving him a second chance."

"Emma…" The Queen said with a feeble reprimand as she returned with the dark pantsuit she'd chosen to wear.

"Daddy Shark," Emma stated and boldly got into the older woman's personal space. "I'm protecting my baby's Mommy."

Regina looked the woman up and down then sidestepped the blonde and quipped, "That's losing its appeal."

Emma moved to intercept, stopping the older woman in her tracks and countered, "No it's not. You love it."

A gentle blush crawled up the Queen's cheeks, and she deflected, "I can not confirm or deny…"

Emma grabbed the woman around the waist, pulling her close and insisted, "You love it."

Breathless the Queen took a moment to regain control over her body then replied with snark, " _Love_  is a strong word."

"Yes, it is," Emma replied with a sly smile. "It is also accurate." She leaned in, placing a kiss on the mouth of the rigid Mayor. Strong arms gripped the older woman when the kiss was reciprocated, and they only broke away when a tiny voice said, "I'm humgry now Mommy!"

The brunette pulled away and darted out her tongue over her bottom lip and commented, "You've gotten cocky."

"You love that too," Emma said as she turned around and picked up their son and headed toward the bedroom door.

"Don't push it," the brunette called after them.

Emma stopped at the door frame and looked back at the older woman and said with a sly smile, "If you play your cards right, I'll wear my white tank top today. I know you love the gun show."

Regina swallowed thickly and sneered at the blonde but didn't comment which forced a laugh from the Savior, "Well, since you've asked  _nicely_."

* * *

After breakfast, the pair packed up their son into Regina's vehicle and drove over to the Pawn Shop. What the brunette could find on the magical item was little more than rumors, and if she was going to use the wand on her child, she needed facts. The object itself was said to be able to do a variety of things, and some of those things were disproven in the lore text, but others, such as magic dismantling had not been. Regina hoped that this item could be used in pairing with the Savior's own magic to break down the spell she cast on their son.

"Let me do the talking," the Mayor warned as Emma picked their son up from the back seat of the car. "He is going to try and aggravate you, but I have questions before I propose a deal and I don't need him testy."

"If anyone is going to make him testy, Regina, it'll be you."

"You make  _me_ testy, Miss Swan, and I actually like you."

Emma heard the slip; the admission of affection, and a smile formed across her lips. "I make you testy, huh?"

"Yes, and the Dark One is far more excitable."

Noting the woman hadn't caught her slip up Emma decided to keep the win and simply said, "Lead the way, Your Majesty."

The couple entered the dark, cramped storefront that seemed to be in a state of organized chaos where only the Dark One knew the key to unlocking the system. Upon hearing the bell, the man himself strutted out from the back room, making a grand entrance.

"Has hell frozen over?" Mr. Gold quipped as the women came closer to the glass case he positioned himself behind.

Regina made a show of looking around their feet and said, "Still toasty warm in here as far as I can tell dear."

"Aren't you two supposed to be off somewhere quibbling over," the man's face registered recognition of the boy that was pressing himself into his blonde mother's chest, and he pointed a long boney finger toward the child and finished, " _him_."

"We don't fight over him," Emma defended, annoyed at the man and his theatrics.

Regina shot her a look then addressed the older brunette, "I'm assuming you've heard of the Scepter of Avalon or the Wand of Aveeno?"

"Indeed," he replied through gnashed teeth.

"The lore that surrounds it says it can replicate magic, do you know this to be accurate?"

"That's what the lore says, yes." He started straightening a few papers on the counter in an attempt to look disinterested.

"Does the replicated magic need to be cast by the original caster?"

A curious eyebrow was lifted, and the Dark One asked, "Why?"

"Just answer me."

The man took a breath and smirked, "I find it curious the Evil Queen and the Savior are in my shop, together, when normally you two are at each other's throats. What angle are you playing Regina?"

"Focus Imp," the Queen grumbled.

Seeing he was succeeding in getting under the woman's skin, he asked, "What need would you have of such a magical object?"

Emma interrupted, unable to hold her tongue while the brunette became visibly anxious and was annoyed that Gold was circling around the point, "We need to undo a spell that I cast."

"Oh, it won't unravel a spell, it will simply double down." Seeing the lost look on the Savior's face, he explained further, "If you've turned someone into a rodent, using the Avalon Scepter on that rodent will simply make a rattier rodent."

"How… what's a rattier rodent?" Emma asked, confused.

A slow blink expressed the man's opinion of her as he quipped, "It is an analogy dearie, do keep up."

"Shit," Regina said under her breath.

"Shit," Henry repeated and giggled when Emma cupped his head and shushed him with a chuckle.

"Lovely boy you have Sheriff." A thin smile crawled across the older man's face. "Seems nature won out over nurture in this case."

"Watch it, Gold," Emma warned.

"Or what?" the Dark One countered.

"Emma," the Queen warned the blonde but her eyes were pinned to the Dark One daring him to push her.

"What? The Babylon Wand thing is a bust, who cares if he's testy? He's being a douche!"

"Miss Swan!" Regina snapped. The sudden reprimand startled Henry, and he cowered into his blonde mother's chest. With a sharp look, Emma backed down and focused on soothing their son.

"Well, it seems as though you've finally gotten her trained, Your Majesty."

Regina turned to the Dark One and quipped, "Yes, in a way pretty little Belle never will be." The Queen's voice dropped before adding, "Obedience of  _will_ , not of  _captivity_."

With the slightest flinch in the man's nostrils, Regina grinned in victory then turned and escorted the Savior and their son out to the car.

"I'm sorry. That guy gets right under my skin."

"It's alright dear. I would've preferred to have access to his library, but pushing his Belle button has guaranteed that isn't going to happen."

"Why'd you push it then?"

"He insulted you and by extension my son."

Once Henry was secured in his car seat the blonde stood up and faced the Queen, "Look at you being all Daddy Shark." Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde's insistence of continuing the shark family narrative and circled the vehicle and got behind the wheel. She was feeling agitation over how she was feeling towards the blonde and the reminder of this fantasy scenario where she would ever have a place in Emma's family stoked that agitation. At the same time, it felt good, and she was feeling anxious about that goodness; Good things in the Queen's life were fleeting and were typically followed by unimaginable suffering.

She feared this case would be no different.


	12. Chapter 12

When the family got home Emma could see the clear agitation in her son's mother and did what she thought was what she ought to do, comfort the woman.

She crawled over to where Regina was laying prone, scowling into a sea of lego blocks next to where her son was making a tall tower. She kissed her son's head and then turned to his mother and reassured, "It'll be okay. We'll find another way."

"Not without looking into dark magic," Regina grumbled.

"Will using dark magic hurt him?"

"Not necessarily."

"Okay then, so you use dark magic. What's the big deal?"

The Queen's features hardened and she barked, "The big deal? The big deal is I haven't used dark magic in decades, Emma, and asking me to do so would be like asking a recovering alcoholic to take a sip of a drink!" Regina looked towards the toddler version of her son and remembered the promise she made to herself and him. Resisting the use of such dark magic was difficult, but she was winning the fight. The idea of jumping into the deep end of that madness again made her stomach roll.

"So you were addicted to the darkness?"

Regina scoffed and snapped, "You have no idea how good that unbridled power feels, it changes you, and you'll do anything for it," dark eyes looked up and met green, "And I did."

Emma looked thoughtfully and replied, "So magic addiction is a thing. Alright. No dark magic then."

The Queen, frustrated over her own weakness, spat, "We can't just leave him like this!"

"Regina, look at me. I'm not suggesting we leave him this way. I'm simply saying we come up with another way."

"Your naivety is astounding Miss Swan." The Queen rolled her eyes and then moved onto her back and covered her arms over her face.

"Don't get bitchy, just hear me out."

When the Savior didn't elaborate she lifted her head and demanded, "Well? I'm listening."

Emma crawled around their son and laid down next to the agitated woman and said, "Teach me how to unbind the spell."

Worried dark eyes looked up and asked, "Do you have any idea how long that will take?"

"No. Do you think I can't learn?"

Seeing the masked pain in the Savior's eyes, Regina chose to soften the point, "Of course you can learn it Emma, but it took me years to reach that level of magical understanding."

A worried brow furrowed when the Savior asked, "Years?"

"He'd be middle school aged by the time we could do this safely."

"Well, there's gotta be another way. The only person I trust to perform magic on him is you, and you're not strong enough without roiding up on dark magic."

The Queen sighed and admitted, "I'm not entirely certain going dark would make me strong enough." She bit her lip and considered what the blonde just admitted then asked, "You trust me to use magic on him?"

Emma leaned in and cupped her cheek. "I trust you."

"There might be another way," Regina alluded and broke eye contact. This was a last-ditch effort she had no intention on gaining any further knowledge on, but it seemed as though they'd hit an impasse.

Emma waited until she saw the brunette had no intention on elaborating and goaded, "Such as?"

Regina rolled onto her side, facing the blonde and asked, "Remember when we made Jefferson's hat open to suck the soul-sucking wraith into the abyss?"

"I remember  _you_ making Jefferson's hat open to suck the soul-sucking wraith into the abyss, yes."

Regina looked up and admitted, "It wasn't  _just_ me, it was our combined magic."

Emma shook her head in disbelief and said, "I didn't use magic to open that hat, Regina. I didn't even know I had magic to use."

"Yet you still did, and it… combined… with mine," the Queen said carefully.

"Magic users can combine their magic?"

"No. Not… typically."

"Well, that sounds a little ominous."

"It's only under very specific, and extremely rare conditions that witches can draw upon one another's magic."

"And we fall into that 'very specific and extremely rare' condition?"

"Apparently," Regina rolled her eyes and amended, "Possibly."

"Okay. Will combining our magic make you powerful enough to break the spell?"

"Most certainly."

"So how do we do it?"

Regina looked into hopeful eyes and didn't want to disappoint. She wasn't positive about Jefferson's hat, and she didn't want to get the woman's hopes up if it turned out she was wrong. "I don't know. The hat situation was unique. We were under pressure. Many factors seemingly streamlined the process."

Emma smiled and moved closer to the Queen daring to rest her hand on the woman's hip and asked, "So this is good right?"

"I suppose. Yes."

Her answer was lackluster, and the Savior noticed. "Why don't you look like it's good Regina."

"It's nothing dear, it's just been a trying day," the brunette waved off her worry and melted into the comfort the younger woman was providing.

"Okay well I'm taking this as a win," Emma said as she wrapped her arms around the Queen and tried to ignore the anxiety she felt off of the woman. She simply wanted to feel as if everything was going to work out even if she knew something bigger and potentially disastrous was just over the horizon. For that moment, laying on the living room floor holding the Mayor to her, everything was okay.

* * *

Once Henry was bathed and put to bed, Emma made her way down to the home office where Regina had been hiding since dinner. The few times Emma disturbed her she was met with irritation and sass, so she mostly left the woman alone. She speculated the shift in the Mayor's mood was due to perhaps fear, and she was pushing the blonde away as a result. She wanted to give her the space she needed, but not the rope to hang herself, so she poked her head into the Mayor's home office.

Regina was set up on the couch bundled up in the corner, nose in a book. Her black rimmed glasses were too heavy for her face and had slipped down to the tip of her nose, and she fiddled with a pen in her hand as she read. The look of focused concentration was etched on the dark features of the Queen and Emma admired her genuine beauty before disturbing her.

"Hey. Hen is settled. Do you need anything before I turn in?"

She lifted her wrist and looked at her watch before asking, "You're going to bed  _now_?"

Emma stepped further into the room and got closer to the brunette seeing as she wasn't being snapped at and took it as a sign that maybe the woman needed a break. "No, I was just gonna watch some Archer on Netflix."

"Isn't that a cartoon?"

Emma shifted under the scrutiny, "Yeah?"

"You are a child."

"It isn't for kids, Regina. Have you seen Lana Kane? She is… well, I mean…" A guilty smile crossed the blonde's mouth at the thought of the cartoon vixen.

"She is what?"

"Really really hot for a cartoon," Emma admitted sheepishly.

"Really," The brunette deadpanned.

Emma smirked and nodded before asking, "So do you need anything before I head up?"

Regina turned back to her research and dismissed, "Nothing at all. Go get your rocks off over some fictitious woman. I'll just toil away here looking for a way to restore our child."

Emma's smirk grew in the face of blatant jealousy. She walked closer to the brunette with purpose and grabbed the book from her hand, tossing it to the table, shocking the older woman.

"Miss Sw..."

Emma leaned over the Queen, taking possession of the older woman's mouth, swallowing the feeble reprimand in the process. She deepened the kiss until her lungs were screaming for air then released her captive and slowly rolled over her body. Regina's chest was heaving, and her dark eyes were pits of black. Emma knelt on the floor next to the Queen and raked her fingers down over the woman's body, pulling her closer. She kissed over dark cotton covered thighs as her fingers began to unfasten the Mayor's pants. She shimmied them down mid-thigh before her mouth found its way back to the satin patch at the woman's apex.

"Emma…" The cry started as a scolding, but when hot lips pressed against the crease of her thigh, it quickly turned into a plea for more.

Fingers found their way up under the band of Regina's underwear and carefully rolled them down over her hips and thighs, down to the woman's pants just below her knees. This hadn't been the blonde's intention, but the agitation in the Mayor coupled with the obvious jealous snark lit something within the Savior. She needed the intimacy and felt the older woman needed the reassurance.

Emma pressed her lips against the Queen's warm center, kissing the woman's mound before opening her thighs for more intimate access. Forceful fingers found their way into her blonde hair as the older woman started to guide her lips to where they were needed. She licked the desire she discovered up along Regina's sex causing her to buck her hips, begging for more.

It didn't take long before the Mayor was a panting and writhing mess under the skillful hands of the Savior and when she slowed her pace, Regina tightened her grip on blonde hair and hissed, "Don't you  _dare_ stop."

Emma chuckled and looked up from between the Queen's quivering legs and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The sentiment rolled over the dark woman, and she felt the weight of her heart fill with affection for the Savior. She was brought to screaming heights, and when she was spent, Emma sat back and laid kisses along her abdomen.

After the Queen caught her breath, her mind filled with all of the uncertainty and horrors of what she's discovered about her connection with the Savior and her fear returned. She was feeling closer to the blonde, and that has never bode well for the Queen in her past. There was a tiny hope that combining their magic wouldn't end in destruction, but that hope was tainted by the Queen's inner feeling that this thing they were doing was just something that had the blonde preoccupied and when their child was back to normal she, and he would disappear leaving her alone once more.

"I think I'll need a day or two before we can attempt to undo your spell."

"Alright," Emma said absently pecking her way around the woman's hip.

"You'll go home then… Once we return him to his proper age."

Emma's attention was lifted to worried dark eyes. "I suppose."

Dark features pinched in her perceived rejection and she snapped, " _Fine_."

"Fine…" Emma responded with confusion.

"If you don't mind Miss Swan, I still have much work to do tonight, and I haven't the time to waste with your frivolous  _distractions_."

Emma watched as the woman detangled herself from her grasp and angrily redressed herself before picking up the book she'd been reading before the intrusion and settled behind her desk to read.

"Alright. If you need anything, you know where to find me I guess."

"I need nothing from you," the Queen said in disinterest without looking up from her book.

Emma wasn't sure what the brunette wanted her to say, but whatever it was, it hadn't been said. Now that the woman was pissed, there would be no rational conversation until she worked out her upset. She would have to wait until Regina came to her. So she got up, quietly exited the Mayor's office and went to her room.

* * *

The Mayor laid in her large empty bed and stared at the ceiling. In order for the women to share their magic, they had to have a profound connection that was only afforded by being soulmates. Her mind raced with everything she'd learned about what precisely a soulmate entailed and how every volatile, symmetrical detail fit neatly into her relationship with the Savior. The fire and ice that was their interactions. How the woman made her feel simple emotions as if they were lava running through her veins. The unbound excitement she felt at her mere presence. The irrational way she felt towards the woman suddenly made perfect sense.

Soulmates didn't mean true love, even though the terms were often used interchangeably. During her reading, she learned that their connection didn't always necessarily mean romantical partners at all, but it seemed she craved the attention of Emma Swan's love, despite herself. This added a complicated layer to what was already an emotionally heightened relationship.

She'd heard the lore on soulmates before her recent research about how they never burned brighter than when in one another's midst and when that fire had magical attributes the result was often disastrous. Of course, there were the few accounts where the witches combined power did nothing but increase the base power for each witch, but most of the tales spoke of dark, twisted magic gone awry. Evil sorcery infiltrated the weaker of the two and infected her to the point of spiritual destruction.

Deep down inside she feared she would infecting the blonde with her dark heart to the end of Henry losing both of his mothers to the darkness. She tried to focus on the moment where the Mad Hatter's hat sprang to life and the feeling she felt when Emma's hand touched her arm igniting her magic. She struggled to remember what it felt like if it was dark and menacing the way she feared but couldn't recall the magic itself, simply the startled surprise when the vortex finally opened.

She did know at the time there was something strange with that incident and thought briefly of the lore that she'd heard as a child of soulmates, but quickly dismissed it when the chaos of the room quieted. When the blonde and her family took her son and left her alone. Anger and jealousy boiled that day and erased any notion of magical compatibility.

She turned and tried to get comfortable and closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. A montage of pained green eyes filled her memory of every single time she'd hurt the blonde, including that very night.

She didn't want the woman to leave, but she didn't know how to ask her to stay. What would asking her to stay mean? Did she want the little shark family? Henry was no longer a baby. He was almost a young man. Would he be able to accept the women if they decided to be with one another in a romantic capacity? Would he trust her motivations?

Did she trust her own motivations? What would she become if the Savior was infected by all of the worst parts of the Evil Queen? That power could destroy the known world. The mere thought of her darkness filled the Queen with a quiet longing and adding the power Emma Swan possessed would be irresistible. Could she face that power and resist the temptation as she's failed to do in the past? Would Emma think less of her for that weakness?

She ripped the sheets away from herself in an attempt to get out of bed, an attempt she resisted. She covered herself back up then turned onto her other side and buried her face into her pillow and let out a sigh and tried to will herself to sleep.

Her eyes popped open, and she was facing the side of her bed that Emma had slept the previous evening and she could almost see the ghost of the woman still in that spot.

" _Let me enjoy my little shark family for a minute…"_

_That_ was the Emma Swan she wanted. The safety and contentment the woman made her feel was what drew her in initially. Her strength, not her power. Her tenderness, her compassion, her love. In every setting she's ever seen Emma Swan, the woman was as closed off as she herself has been known to be. In most cases more so. Emma didn't have secrets she was trying to hide; it was her true self she was hiding away. Protecting herself from everyone and everything around her. She felt the woman take off her armor and be real with her in a hundred different ways. Regina could do the same. Regina wanted to do the same.

She pulled the covers off of her form and didn't resist the urge to get up out of bed. Once she was standing, she took tentative steps toward her bedroom door and made her way out into the hall passed her son's room to the door of the guest bedroom that held the woman that's been on her mind all night.

She pushed the semi-ajar door open just enough to slip through and could plainly see the blonde was in a deep sleep. She willed her feet forward and stood at the edge of the bed and watched, and waited, uncertain as to what she was even doing creeping into the blonde's bedroom in the middle of the night. She took a step back and considered returning to her own room, her own bed, her own… life. A life alone without the warmth of Emma Swan.

Instead, she pulled back the woman's covers and slipped into her bed. The Savior was disturbed as much as one could be and resituated herself to accept the intrusion as she snaked her arms around her and coaxed her into the embrace; settling back down she laid a kiss to the brunette's forehead. "Took you long enough," her sleepy voice croaked.

"Yes well, I wouldn't want you to think I'm  _easy_."

The blonde's chest bounced as she chuckled, "Rest assured, that thought will never cross my mind, Your Majesty."

The older woman's hands slipped over the trim form of the woman beneath her and let out a content sigh as her mind quieted in the blonde's presence.

"Good night, Regina."

"Good night, My Liege."


	13. Chapter 13

Emma awoke to quiet crying coming from the other room and looked over at Regina who hadn't moved an inch in response. She leaned in and kissed the woman on the side of the head then detangled herself and rushed out into the hall to greet the upset boy.

He threw up his arms, and she lifted him and soothed him, "Hey dude, what's wrong?"

"I want Mommy!"

"Mommy is sleeping, buddy."

"No, she not!" He pointed toward the woman's bedroom, and Emma understood. He'd gone in for his morning cuddle to find his mother missing.

"Yeah she's in my room, want to see?"

He nodded his head and rubbed his teary eye with the ball of his fist.

"Okay but we need to be super quiet so we don't wake her up, we'll just peek so we can see she's in there, okay big guy?"

"Okay," the boy agreed.

He leaned around the door, and looked at Emma's messy bed with his brunette mother curled up fast asleep and pointed and whispered as best he could, "Mommy sleepin."

"See?" Emma whispered back.

"It time for wakes. We tickle her?"

Emma shook her head no and carried the boy from the room, closing the door behind her. "No Mommy didn't get much sleep last night, so we're gonna let her sleep in."

"Or we can tickle her," the boy countered with a wide dimpled grin.

"You're just a little monster aren't you?" The boy nodded his head. "You probably get that from me."

He nodded and asked again, "We tickle her den?"

"Or we can get some grapes and watch Yo Gabba Gabba," Emma countered.

"Gabba!" the boy excitedly called and wiggled himself out of her arms and ran toward the stairs.

"DJ Lance for the win," Emma said as she followed him down the stairs.

Emma entered the living room and looked around uncertain as to what to do with the little boy first. She thought about the previous mornings and what she'd seen his mother do and started to go over what she remembered.

"I gotta go potty," the little boy announced, pulling Emma from her mental to-do list.

"Right. Okay. Go ahead?"

The boy shot her a look but got up and went into the downstairs bathroom. She turned on the television, queuing up Henry's show and then went into the kitchen to look for something to eat when she heard the boy cry out, "Emma!"

The panic in his voice startled her into a run as she raced into the small downstairs bathroom and what she found was a disaster of epic proportions. Henry stood in the middle of the room crying his eyes out. His pajama pants were around his ankles and soaking wet. The floor was wet. The toilet was wet. The walls were wet. Everything in the room had a coat of urine.

"What the…?" she caught herself despite her shock and looked down on the upset little boy. "Okay kid, come here." She stepped on his soaked pajama bottoms and pulled him out of them as she lifted him into an embrace.

She pulled the fancy towels that were elegantly displayed down off of the towel rack and blanketed the floor with them. "Mommy is going to kill me for that, but she's gonna have to get over it isn't she?"

Her son's little head nodded his agreement. "Well maybe I'll just blame you, you're too cute to kill."

"No!" He buried his head into her chest and pouted.

"You totally are, you get that from me too kid. Your welcome."

"No," he insisted with a whine.

Emma kissed him on his head and carried him from the disaster that was the downstairs bathroom. "Well, no one said to pee all over everything."

He sat up and pointed to the bathroom and complained, "Dat potty too tall."

Emma smiled and teased, "No, I think you're too short."

"I not chort Emma!" he insisted with a pout.

Emma tickled his belly and relished in his giggles as she teased, "You're the shortest one in this whole house."

"No! Mommy chort!"

"She's short too, but you're shorter than her!"

"No, I not!"

She continued to tease him as she brought him upstairs then reminded him that Regina was still sleeping and deposited him in the pristinely clean bathroom. She took off his shirt and opened up the door to the shower. When she turned back to him he had a look of extreme apprehension, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"I take baffs," he explained.

"I know, but you don't need a whole bath dude, you just need a rinse off."

She saw that he was unconvinced and so she took his hand and guided him toward the open door of the shower. "No Emma! I dun like it!" He thrashed and pulled, so she stopped trying to force him in and then asked, "Why don't you like it? It's like standing in the rain but in the house."

"Water makes owies," he explained holding his hands over his ears and poorly restrained his upset.

Suddenly remembering his inner ear issue, she reassured, "Oh no, buddy, I won't let the water get on your head." She smiled trying to put the kid at ease. "The shower head comes down we'll just spray the parts that have pee on it." She held out her hand and waited for him to make up his mind to listen and when he did she praised him, "Good boy!"

She stood to her full height and pulled the shower head out of the caddy and turned the water on adjusting it for temperature then started to spray off the boy. He giggled as the jetstream tickled his tummy and started to squeal in laughter when he realized if he put his hands in the way he could soak Emma too.

"Not cool kid. This is the second bathroom you've destroyed this morning. Mommy is definitely going to kill me."

"Yeah she keel you!" he pointed and laughed at her expense.

Emma's eyes slit in mock annoyance, and she grumbled, "Traitor."

She turned off the water and assessed herself and the state of the bathroom and sighed. She pulled several towels out of the cabinet and draped them across the wet floor then grabbed another one and wrapped up the soaking wet boy. "Come on trouble, let's get dressed."

"Yor wet Emma!"

"I know! That's twice you got pee on me. Payback is a bitch kid."

She dried him and dressed him in a clean pair of pajamas then asked, "What do you want for breakfast?"

He opened his mouth, and she interrupted him and said, "Not grapes." His little face fell, and she amended, "Not just grapes, you gotta have something else otherwise Mommy won't just kill me, she will destroy my happiness."

He considered his options and settled on, "Rorrup capes."

"Roar up capes?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you mean cake? Because that's worse than grapes."

"Nuh uh, capes!"

"I don't know what that is, dude."

"I wan rorrup capes for breffass!"

He looked at her expectantly, and she considered her options. She could either go through every breakfast food known to womankind and play 20 thousand questions with the kid, or she could entice him with something she knew he would like.

"Alright, how about this. I know you like chocolate, right?"

"Yeah?"

"How about Count Chocula cereal?"

"What id it?"

"You're gonna love it!" Emma led him into the hall then told him to stay and quietly snuck into her bedroom. While she was in there, she grabbed a clean set of pajamas and the box of cereal that was under her side of the bed. She'd taken to snacking on it while she surfed the internet at night.

When she came back out into the hall, she led the kid back into the bathroom and plopped him down on the closed toilet seat and set the box down between his legs. She peeled off her soggy clothes and cleaned herself off and got dressed. She pushed the towels she'd laid down earlier around on the floor to soak up most of the water then lifted them into the clothes hamper.

She turned back to the boy who was elbow deep in chocolate cereal and sighed, "Well if she's gonna kill me anyway, might as well make it worth it right?"

He nodded his head and smiled showcasing the dark brown dye from the cereal caked around his lips. "Yeah, let's go get you a bowl for your sugar high." She picked him up and took him back downstairs feeling as though she totally has this parenting thing on lockdown.

* * *

Regina woke up and was disoriented for a moment before remembering she was in the guest bedroom. She scowled when she realized the blonde was no longer in bed with her and looked around for a clock before noticing there wasn't one in the room. She pulled herself from the bed and heard the cheery music from one of Henry's shows float up the staircase from the first floor and was pleased that the blonde took the initiative to keep their child entertained. She felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth at the knowledge that the younger woman had allowed her to sleep in. Entering her bedroom, she grabbed a light robe and then checked the time. At nearly ten in the morning, she's shocked she'd slept so long and worried about feeding Henry.

_Certainly the blonde hadn't cooked for the boy, right?_

When she entered the living room, she saw two chocolate milk filled cereal bowls on her coffee table and her son and his mother dancing along with the characters of Yo Gabba Gabba.

When Emma lifted her hands in the air and turned in place she noticed the brunette and her smile widened and she exclaimed, "Hey sleepy head!"

"Mommy!" the boy cheered and ran over to her and jumped up into her arms.

"I see you've been fed, of sorts."

"Carnt chocyewyah!" Henry exclaimed with his fists in the air.

Emma smiled and corrected, "Count Chocula."

"Where on earth did you get that?"

Emma smirked and replied cryptically, "I acquired it."

"When?" Dark eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"While I was at the apartment the day you kicked me out."

"I didn't kick you out. You left," the Queen corrected.

"If that's how you want to see it, we'll go with that," the blonde smiled wide as she noticed the older woman bristle.

The boy wiggled from his mother's arms when a new song started blaring through the TV speakers, and he began jumping around singing to the song.

"He is going to be hyped up on sugar for most of the day," Regina complained and then picked up the discarded bowls and headed for the kitchen.

Emma chased after her and took the bowls from her and replied, "Maybe, but he's only going to be little like this for one more day right?"

"So that means we need to give him a sugar high?" Regina relented and looked back at her son bouncing off the walls.

"It won't hurt him."

"Alright well I wish you hadn't let me sleep in so late. I have things to accomplish today."

"Regina you didn't get to sleep till almost five this morning."

"Was it really that late?" Regina worried her lip then exclaimed when the blonde took her up into her arms.

"It was really that late," Emma confirmed then kissed the woman's temple. "Do you want to talk about what's going on in that head of yours?"

Regina shook her head no, then wrapped her arms around the Savior's midsection and sunk into the embrace. This thing she was allowing to progress wasn't helping her worry. She was allowing the woman to get too familiar and it would be all the harder to let her go when things went wrong as they were apt to do.

* * *

Close to dinner time, Regina emerged from her office to find the blonde helping their son put a giant puzzle together and cleared her throat to get their attention. "I'm not in the mood to cook tonight, so I figured we could continue today's tradition of junk food with take-out from Granny's."

"Like pick up and bring home?"

"Unless you'd like to deal with the town staring and pointing at us, yes."

"No bring-home sounds perfect, what do you want me to pick up?"

As the blonde made a move to get up, Regina stopped her and replied, "No need dear, I'll make the run, you stay and finish your puzzle with Henry."

"Are you sure?" The worried look on the Savior was plainly seen, and the Queen softened her tone and countered, "I'm sure. We can cuddle up with a movie after we eat, what do you say?"

"Yay!" Henry cheered in agreement then distractedly went back to the puzzle.

Emma got up off of the floor and got close so she could ask more clearly, "You haven't seen him all day, I can go if you'd like one on one time with him."

"It's alright dear; I need to stretch my legs."

Green eyes looked skeptical but relented when the brunette laid a soft reassuring caress to the Savior's cheek. The touch was well received, and the Savior's face split into a warm smile that reached in and touched the Queen. She rubbed the pad of her thumb across a pink cheekbone and said, "I promise, everything is alright."

* * *

The order Emma placed wasn't ready when Regina got there, so she took a seat at the counter and waited. Ruby Lucas leaned over the counter and grinned catching her attention. "May I help you, Miss Lucas?"

"How's little Henry?"

Brown eyes stared into green blankly, and when the woman did not cower under the Mayor's scrutiny, she answered, "Well."

"Emma mentioned you might have a way to make him big again."

"Perhaps." The clip in the Mayor's tone was not lost on the young brunette, and she sighed in frustration and explained, "Look, I'm Emma's friend…"

"You're Snow's friend, I know precisely who you are, Miss Lucas."

The leggy brunette stood to her full height and folded her arms across her chest and said, "I'm Emma's friend in this capacity."

"You'll need to have our fair Princess talk to the Savior if she wants any information about our son."

"I'm pretty sure she isn't talking to Snow right now and if I wanted information about the kid I'd simply ask Emma herself. I'm asking you about the magic stuff because you are the person who is going to fix it."

"Such confidence you have," Regina replied with an eye roll.

"Well Emma trusts you, and I trust her."

The Queen looked startled and asked, "She told you that? That she trusts me?" It was one thing for the woman to tell her directly, it was something entirely different to have that sentiment expressed to close friends where there was no favor gained by doing so.

"Yeah," the wolf was hesitant to reveal what she knew of Emma's feelings toward the Mayor because she wanted to keep the lines of communication open with the guarded woman.

Regina shook off her surprise and straightened her position and asked, "What would you like to know?"

Ruby smiled and asked eagerly, "What's the game plan?"

"It seems as though I may be able to use the Savior's own magic to deconstruct her spell. However, using her magic like that will be… life-altering. For both of us."

Ruby's eyes looked fearful, "Will it harm her?"

"I'm uncertain."

"Oh," the young brunette contemplated. "I didn't think witches could mix magic like that, I mean unless they were you know…"

Surprise at the wolf's knowledge was plainly seen on the Queen's face, and her mouth fish gaped as her mind searched for a way to explain. The idea that Emma was her soulmate was still fresh and new to her, and she hadn't wrapped her mind around it enough to properly explain it to someone else.

"Regina?" the distinct voice of Snow White was heard behind her and dark eyes closed in annoyance. "You think you share true love with my daughter? Are you out of your mind?"

"Eavesdropping is rude, Snow," the older woman said coolly.

"How can I ignore my stepmother talking about my daughter being her true love?!"

"It isn't true love you twit! The ability comes from being soulmates, and I'm still uncertain. Until I am certain, I am not taking any chances with either my son nor his mother."

"Like you care if you cause her ill effects!"

"I don't wish her harm!" the Queen countered loudly.

"Since when?"

Regina saw the opportunity to hurt the Princess by revealing secrets regarding the change in her status with the woman's daughter but kept quiet. The restraint surprised her. "I preferred it when  _we_ were on non-speaking terms," the Queen quipped and turned from the irritated brunette.

Granny called, "Order up!"

"Saved by the bell it seems." Regina picked up her order and left the angry Princess in the middle of the diner.

As she made her way out to her vehicle, but Ruby scrambled out of the restaurant and stopped her.

"Regina! Hey. I'm sorry about Snow."

"As am I," the Mayor replied slowing her pace and turning to face the taller woman with a mask of indifference.

"If it's true, you know, with you and Emma, just know you guys aren't alone. You're not alone in this."

"Why on earth would you help me?"

"Not everyone is pissed off about the curse Regina. The only people who really are were the ones who had something to lose, royalty for instance. The rest of us got a real shot at life without certain… afflictions. Not to mention indoor plumbing."

"Yes the amenities in this realm were a pleasant surprise," the Queen replied with a restrained smirk.

"I… I don't want anything bad to happen to my friend Regina, so if you need anything, let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Regina replied then turned and added with sincerity, "Thank you, Miss Lucas."


	14. Chapter 14

Upon arriving home, her young son attacked her at the door. "Mommy!" His tone was hyper with how he described whatever it was that had him excited which made her smile even if she couldn't understand most of what he was saying. "Alright darling, let's get inside so we can have dinner, shall we?"

He climbed down out of her arms and started to run before his feet touched the ground. "Go tell Emma dinner is ready."

"Okay!" the boy cheered as he hightailed it toward his blonde mother.

The woman in question sauntered into the kitchen as Regina was unpackaging their dinner. "What's that face for?"

The blonde poked her head in the bag and asked, "What face?"

"The face of superior, smug self-satisfaction."

Emma laughed and saddled up next to the brunette and rested her hand on the small of the woman's back. Regina waited for an explanation that didn't come, and when Henry started clamoring for attention, she slipped out of the blonde's semi-embrace and went back to plating their dinners. She watched as Emma picked up the boy and the boy's plate and turned to head into the dining room and smirked at the domesticity of it all. She grabbed her own plate and Emma's and followed suit.

As soon as Emma was finished buckling their son into his booster seat, she leaned in and kissed the brunette on the cheek and thanked her for bringing her plate.

"Is that what we are doing now?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow as she took her normal seat at the table.

"The kissing? Yeah," Emma replied as she slid into her seat across from their son.

"Since when?"

"Since you started thinking we are soulmates," the blonde said with a wide smirk.

The Queen's fork clattered against the ceramic plate, and she gasped, "Miss Lucas?"

"No, Snow," Emma answered and took a bite out of her burger.

Regina seethed and said in a low tone, "I am going to rip her heart out!"

"No murder talk at the dinner table." Emma chuckled and took another bite of her burger then winked at the Queen. "So is this the super rare thing you were talking about combining magic?"

"Yes," she replied with a grumble, displeased that her former stepdaughter hadn't grown out of her secret-spilling ways. Not that this was a secret, but it was something she hadn't all the way processed and wasn't exactly comfortable discussing it with Emma just yet. She felt embarrassment and uncertainty, and neither of those things ever bode well for her penchant for being cruel. "Don't think this means anything. It doesn't mean anything."

"Oh? So soulmate means something different in your land? Because here, it's kind of a big deal."

"No, it means the same thing in the Enchanted Forest."

"Ohhhh so when you said it doesn't mean  _anything_ , what you meant to say was it means  _everything_."

Regina closed her eyes slowly pooling her strength, and when she opened them again, she was side-eyeing the Savior.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice,  _soulmate_."

"I… I am uncertain if that is what we are. So don't get ahead of yourself."

Emma could plainly see her teasing was not helping the uptight woman in the least, so she reached across the table and covered the older woman's hand and gave her a tight smile. "Alright. I'm sorry. I just like poking the bear."

"I do not enjoy being poked."

Emma smile melted and she teased, "We both know that isn't true." Emma chuckled when a blush crawled up the Queen's cheeks and was met with a scalding look. The blonde held up her hands and defended, "It's not my fault I think you're adorable."

"I'm starting to miss the days where you thought I was a… See You Next Tuesday."

"Can't I think both?"

"You're the most insufferable woman I've ever met."

"Everyone has a talent," Emma responded as she popped an onion ring into her mouth.

* * *

It was the brunette who offered to put Henry to bed while Emma cleaned up the dinner mess and the living room. When the older woman came back down the stairs, she wore a tight scowl as she looked over the blonde's work.

"Your super duper frowny face is stressing me out," Emma called as she dumped a pile of trucks and cars into a rubber bin that lined the far wall.

"I am in no mood for your juvenile behavior."

"I'm in no mood for your royal crankiness, but yet here we are." Emma sauntered up to the brunette and asked with a mock pouty lip, "What's the problem?"

Regina folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. She was angry she was being forced into discussing a topic she hadn't all the way accepted herself, but when Emma forced her chin up to meet her gaze, she took a deep breath and began to explain what she'd learned. She was clinical and laid out what the risks of mixing their magic was for each of them in plain language trying to hold back her particular biases and fears in the process.

Emma listened and asked questions and took in the information and mulled it over. When all was said and done, she asked, "Is this what's been bothering you? You think you're going to corrupt me?"

She rolled her eyes at the younger woman's ability to see through what she said to the hidden fears behind her words and admitted, "The chances are very good Emma."

"No, chances would be good if I were weak. You said so yourself; my magic is stronger than anything you've ever encountered. Stronger than the Dark One himself. I am made of true love, and Henry always says that's the most powerful magic known in all the realms. If anyone is going to get infected, it's going to be you."

Regina stared at the impassioned Savior and reconsidered the fears that have plagued her. "I hadn't considered that."

"Obviously." She wrapped her arms around the Queen and pulled her closer. She could see the fear and question in the woman's expressive eyes and recognized the hesitation for what it was. "Look," Emma said. "I don't want you to feel obligated to whatever this is if it turns out this is a thing. Fate or destiny or soulmates or whatever doesn't control us. We both have a say in what we do going forward."

"What say do you think you have?"

Emma slid her hands up and cupped the older woman's jaw, holding her gaze for a moment before she leaned in and laid a soft kiss against plum lips. "The say of what I want. I choose you."

"What if we aren't soulmates?"

"Then we find another way to fix Henry, but I still choose you."

"I…" Regina took a shuddering breath before taking a leap of faith and admitted, "I choose you too." It was the scariest thing she'd ever admitted, placing her fragile hope in the palm of the Savior's hands. She felt strong arms tighten around her, and she felt safe.

Emma had wormed her way into her life, into her heart and now standing before her she believed that perhaps the blonde was right. The Savior  _had_ infected her. Perhaps she was infected the moment the blonde came into town and was unaware.

_Or mostly unaware._

The attraction she felt toward the Savior was complicated, to say the least, but she meant what she said, she chose Emma. Not because she is the fabled savior or some fated soulmate, not even because it will inevitably hurt her nemesis. It was Emma. The way the woman looks at her as if she is the only person in the entire world worth paying attention to. Even when they argue. The way she challenges her. Questions her authority. How she doesn't cower away from the Queen's past or her station in life. How the woman genuinely believes she can be better.

Emma could see a factory full of cogs working overtime behind the darker woman's eyes, and after a moment she asked, "So… what do we have to do?"

Regina snapped to attention and cleared her voice as she moved away from the Savior and explained, "We will attempt to mix our magic doing something extremely powerful."

Emma folded her arms around herself and asked, "Okay what do you want to try?"

"We're going to attempt an eclipse."

"Of like, the moon?"

"It is nighttime Emma; the moon is what we have available."

"Can you do that?"

"No, but that's the point. If we can, then that is our answer."

The brunette led the stunned Savior out to the backyard of her home and looked up into the night sky. The celestial body was in its full stage and lit up the entire night with its silvery hue. She instructed the blonde on how to perform the task which was little more than the levitation lesson from before and then settled in and attempted to move the planetary bodies into position. After a moment of nothing happening, the Queen grumbled, "Focus Miss Swan."

"I am."

"I don't believe you are."

"Maybe we need to touch like with the hat?" Emma asked.

"Or maybe you need to focus harder," the Queen snapped.

Emma recognized the woman's irritation was due to frustration but was never one to cave to Her Majesty's mood swings, and so she laughed, "Don't get bitchy Madam Mayor. Take my hand."

A stern side-eye did little to muffle the younger woman's chuckles, but a hand was thrust out in offer despite the aggravation.

As soon as the Savior took hold of her, she felt the rush of her power and dark eyes grew wide as the moon was slowly but steadily shrouded in darkness. Her vision blurred and the dark of the night suddenly felt thick around her.

"Emma, let go," Regina said in a panicked voice much to the blonde's surprise.

"What's wrong?"

The dark blanket that covered the garden crept in on her, and she felt extreme unease on her feet. The magical feat was forgotten, green eyes focused all of their attention on her, and she felt the ground beneath her feet shift, and she swooned into the Savior's arms.

Her name being called in the distance and a fair worried scowl was blurry as she clung to consciousness.

"Regina!"

Suddenly she was weightless.

Not weightless,  _carried_. She was lifted into tense arms that wrapped around her form; and her name. Her name was everything in that voice. That worried angelic voice that made her name feel like velvet. It was everything. She tried to respond, but her tongue felt too thick. The words were syrup running down the back of her throat. Everything that she's never said clung to the back of her tongue afraid of the consequences of telling.

A bright light blinded her, and the world started to spin. White ceiling. Warm breath against her cheek. Soft pillows under her. The couch.

"Holy shit please be okay!" Words were spoken in thick upset.

_Emma._

Emma was everything.

"Can magic give you a stroke?!"

No. Emma… She's so…  _powerful..._

"We moved the friggen moon Rubes and now she's I don't know! Should I call an ambulance? Can regular hospitals fix magical fuck ups?"

We did it. She's my soulmate. Miss Swan is my soulmate. Emma is everything.  _Emma!_

"Emma?"

"Hang on," Emma called then rushed to the brunette's side. "Regina!? Are you okay?! What the fuck just happened?"

The world as she knew it spun at the blonde's touch and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Her magic is too strong. Too intense. Too much…

Darkness took over the brunette.

"Holy fuck she just passed out! I'm calling an ambulance!"

"Does she have a pulse?" Ruby asked over the phone.

Emma pressed two of her fingers into the brunette's pulse point and nodded when she felt the steady beat of a heart. "Yeah," she noticed as soon as they touched the area pulsed with the warmth she felt during their experiment and added, "I think we're still sharing magic."

Ruby instructed her to stop touching Regina and called for an ambulance on the inn's landline while she kept a frantic blonde calm.

Emma ran to the front of the house and opened the door for the men who arrived with a stretcher. Ruby told her she would meet her at the emergency room and they got off of the phone. The unconscious Queen was loaded up by the EMT's while one asked Emma standard medical triage questions.

"It's magic. I may have I don't know. Something!"

"The doctor will have questions, meet us at the hospital."

Emma nodded her head then rushed upstairs to gather up their sleeping child. She started pulling warm clothes from the options in the boy's dresser and called over her shoulder in a frantic voice, "Come on kid, time to get up."

"Sleeps time 'Ma," the little boy stirred and looked around the room in dazed confusion.

"We're going for a car ride dude, let's get some pants on."

"Mommy?" The worried boy called out expecting his adoptive mother to walk into his room at any second.

"We're going to go see Mommy buddy." Emma turned and picked him up out of bed and hurriedly pulled a pair of brown corduroy overalls over his Hulk pajama bottoms and yanked him up into her arms and rushed down the stairs.

She spun around in the kitchen, dark green eyes darting around and singsonged to the visibly upset boy in her arms, "Keys keys keys? Where's Mommy's car keys?"

The boy pointed to a black leather bag in the dining room, and Emma dashed for it. When she found the car keys in the dark depths of the purse, she kissed the boy on his head and said, "You're so smart! You definitely get that from Mommy."

She got him into his car seat then got behind the wheel of Regina's car. Her hands were shaking, and she missed the ignition with the tip of the key three times before stopping and taking a deep breath. The words, "spiritually consumed" floated in the back of her mind. An ominous warning the brunette had uttered earlier that night. Brown eyes looked fearful. Emma thought it was fear of the darkness, not of the light. Could her magic hurt her?

She took another deep breath and steadied herself before inserting the key into the ignition and turned the engine over. She looked back at the dark eyes of her son and gave him the widest smile she could fake and backed out of the driveway.


	15. Chapter 15

When she arrived, Ruby was already waiting for her in the lobby. She rushed in and barely heard the information the taller brunette gave and headed back towards the nurse's station.

She was given the same information Ruby had just relayed and then started to pace. She held her son tight to her chest as she continued to worry about his mother's unknown state.

Ruby attempted to take the boy, but Emma refused to let him go. She needed him. She needed someone to soothe, even if the boy was calm as can be. She needed someone to focus on so she didn't think about how the limp woman's head rolled back against her arm. How terrified she was. How her heart clenched tight in her chest, and she couldn't draw breath.

How she was losing everything.  _Again_.

The selfish thought was tucked away as images of her son growing up without Regina flooded her mind. She would never break the spell on him, and he would never know the woman who raised him. She felt the prickles of tears at the back of her eyes and shook away the images of a future where the brunette wasn't a part of their lives.

Her fear slowly started to turn to anger as the loss of control settled over her.

"Swan do you want me to call your parents?"

Emma shook her head no and continued to pace the length of the large room.

After what seemed like an eternity, the entire waiting room jumped in surprise as a loud crash was heard from beyond the large double doors.

Another crash and muffled voices had all eyes on the large wooden doors.

"EMMA!" The loud raspy voice of the Mayor called out seconds before two frightened nurses barged through the triage doors looking for the Savior.

The blonde rushed through the swinging doors to find the Queen being wrestled to a hospital bed by three moderately sized orderlies and Doctor Whale filling a needle with a clear liquid.

"Regina!" Emma cried and rushed over to the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Look! See? It's Daddy Shark! Now unhand me!"

Once the Queen stopped struggling the men tentatively let her go and allowed Emma to get close. The brunette reached out, and the boy in the Savior's arms wiggled away from one mother and settled down into the other.

She squeezed him and cooed, "And my Baby Shark! Look at how beautiful he is!" Brown eyes grew in realization, and she exclaimed, "He is an angel Emma! Look at how beautiful he is! You made a little angel to save me! The Savior made me a savior!"

Emma's eyes held the level of fear she felt as she looked to Doctor Whale and asked, "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"She's drunk," the Doctor informed.

"She's not  _drunk_."

"She  _sounds_ drunk."

"You're basing your diagnosis on the  _sound_ of her?" Emma exclaimed in disbelief. She pointed to the medicine in his hand and demanded, "What the hell is that?"

"This will help her calm down," the man said and stuck the tip of the needle into the IV port that led to the woman's vein.

"She doesn't need that. Look, she's calm. This thing that happened was magical."

"We moved the moon!" Regina whisper-shouted to the Doctor and nodded her head.

Doubt crossed the man's face, but he pulled the needle out of the port and capped it when he asked, "If it's magical why the hell did you bring her here?"

"Seriously? She was  _unconscious_!"

"Just like Baby Shark is supposed to be!" the dark woman singsonged to her son curled up in her arms.

The Doctor folded his arms and scoffed in annoyance, "Sheriff Swan, we've been over this, I have no experience in magical practices. I am a man of science."

"And grave robbing!" Regina added helpfully.

Whale's grey-blue eyes squinted, and he spat, "Do you really want to compare historical necromancy, Your Majesty?"

Regina laughed and barked, "Anytime, Doctor Fake-in-stein!"

"You know what Your Royal Bitchiness…"

"That's enough!" Emma shouted. She looked to the surprised Doctor and said, "No drugs, no booze. I want you to check her head to make sure there wasn't any real damage done by way of magic."

"Fine." The man scribbled something on the woman's chart then angrily hung it on the edge of the bed and stormed off in a sulk.

Emma turned to Regina and asked, "Hey we're gonna get you checked out, but do you know what happened?"

Dark eyes looked up, and a lazy smile crossed the woman's dark lips, and she cooed, "You're so powerful, Savior."

"Yeah, but are you okay?" The worried brow of the Savior was clenched tight as she studied every detail of the older woman.

Regina bit her bottom lip and said breathlessly, "You're so beautiful!"

"You do sound drunk," Emma replied and stroked the woman's dark hair.

"Look Sheriff! Look at our beautiful Baby Shark!" Regina looked down at the little boy asleep in her arms and kissed him and hugged him closer.

"Regina, focus."

She looked at the Savior with unshed tears in her eyes and said, "I love him so much!"

"I know you do," Emma pulled a tight smile as she realized whatever was wrong with the older woman was going to prevent her from getting any real answers.

"I didn't think it was possible to love like this…" the brunette trailed off as she caressed the sleeping boy's soft hair then looked back up at the Savior. "Do you think I love him like this because he is a part of you? You're my soulmate, Emma. We moved the moon."

"No. I think you love him this way because you are his mother."

A wide smile crossed the older woman's features, and she looked down on him, "I am," she took in a shuddering breath and finished, "his mother."

Emma leaned in and kissed the older woman's crown and watched as she peacefully slipped into slumber with their son.

Relief washed over her, and she covered her eyes as she silently wept. A taller presence was felt behind her, and when she felt arms surround her, she turned and melted into the embrace of her friend, her godmother. The soft red fabric of the woman's cloak muffled the sobs as the Savior let go of her emotions. A strong hand gripped the back of her head, and Ruby soothed, "She's okay, Swan."

* * *

Emma was woken up by a squirming little body forcing its way between her and the Mayor. She leaned back giving him the room he needed to cocoon himself between his mothers. She looked down at the peaceful boy as he closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep. She was going to miss him like this. Her eyes flicked up and took in the relaxed beauty of the brunette in her bed. The woman hadn't been disturbed by the child in the slightest. Years of him crawling into her bed in the morning. When had that stopped? How did she cope?

How has she coped? Waking up to an empty house with nothing to do but consider her failures? Him not coming home from school? Not sharing meals? Not sharing stories of his day? It was something they did because it was something he did with Emma. Never fail. Over dinner, no matter if it was just the two of them or her parents too they always discussed their day.

Her mind was snapped to focus when her gaze met black pools under heavy eyelids. "Hey," Emma greeted.

"Hey," A dry throaty voice replied.

"How do you feel?"

"Warm."

"Like feverish?"

"No, like your son is a 28lb mini heater."

"Yeah, I was looking for more of a status update. What the hell happened last night?"

"You are very powerful," the Queen replied, and Emma stared expectantly. "I was ill prepared for how powerful you are," the brunette explained further.

"So you  _were_ drunk."

"That is an extremely simplistic and imprecise description of what occurred, but yes I suppose if that's what you want to call it."

"That's what Whale called it."

"Well, he is a buffoon."

"You  _just_ said he was right!"

"That doesn't negate his clownish idiocy."

Emma relaxed a little and said, "I'm glad to see you are feeling better." She then asked the question she'd considered repeatedly throughout the night, "Does your reaction mean that we are not soulmates?"

"No. I simply took in more of your magical energy than I was capable of handling. The next time we won't try and move planetary bodies. I'll get used to it." Regina looked into worried green eyes and assured, "It'll be okay darling."

* * *

During breakfast, Emma's cell phone rang from the station's number. It was Prince Charming calling for assistance with a fire set down at the docks. A cool stone sank in her stomach at the thought of leaving Regina alone. Emma looked to the brunette and started to decline, not fully convinced she felt like she could leave the brunette alone.

"You have a job to do Sheriff," the older woman reminded with a scolding click of her tongue.

Emma covered the mouthpiece of her cell phone and asked, "I doubt it's arson."

"Don't be so sure Savior; my Kingdom had its fair share of criminals."

"Great," Emma huffed then spoke to her father, "I'll be there in twenty minutes." She got the exact location from David and got off the phone.

A warm hand slid across the table and covered her bouncing fingertips drawing her attention to the older woman, "Everything is going to be fine dear."

"Famous last words," Emma grumbled and turned her hand so she could squeeze the Queen's fingers gently.

* * *

Emma arrived at the scene, and it was a blazing inferno. By the time she got there the bare bones firefighter squad was already battling the fire. "Where the hell is everyone else?" Emma shouted as she rushed up to where the blonde deputy was taping off the perimeter.

David shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Budget cuts?"

"Who the hell thought that was going to be a good idea?"

"I'm law enforcement. Talk to your mother."

Emma rolled her eyes and rushed over to where the fire chief who was handing out duties and asked, "What can I do to help?"

The man shouted with urgency, "Get all of these people back another 50 yards at least! There's an exhaust pipe near the main fire source that could have potentially flammable gasses emitting from it!"

Emma's eyes grew wide, and she nodded her head and started corralling the people to back up. Getting Deputy Charming on board, they managed to disperse the crowd in time when a loud explosion erupted, and more buildings caught fire. Emma ran to where she left the Fire Chief and urged him, "Get the rest of your men down here!"

"They've been…"

"I don't care if I have to pay them out of my budget. Get them down here now!" Emma shouted, not necessarily angry with the man himself but the situation they all found themselves in.

"Yes Sheriff," the man complied and got on the phone.

**Emma: Snow fired two-thirds of the fire department**

**Regina: How bad is it?**

**Emma: The sewer exploded**

**Regina: I'm coming down**

**Emma: I tell you the sewer exploded and the first thing you want to do is bring our toddler down here?**

Emma waited to get a snarky come back, but when it became clear, she wouldn't be getting one she texted the woman once again.

**Emma: I was kidding**

She looked at her phone and waited. She waited and rolled her eyes and waited some more. She considered perhaps the woman would think the light-hearted remark was a dig at the woman's parenting skills. It wasn't as if Emma hadn't made that weakness a target, often.

**Emma: That wasn't a slight, it was a joke.**

**Emma: You're not coming down here, right?**

**Emma: Seriously, don't do that.**

She waited some more and thought that perhaps Henry caught the woman's attention, so she left the warning to stay away from the docks as her last message. Seeing the new Mayor of Storybrooke across the way talking to the small crowd that gathered along the taped off perimeter she shoved her phone into her back pocket and marched over to give her a piece of her mind about budget allocation.


	16. Chapter 16

His Mommy lifted him off of her lap and got up to get a bright green plate with his favorite snack, sliced up grapes. She set it down in front of him on the long wooden table, and he reached to grab the juicy purple treat. He waited for her to return to her seat on the floor then promptly climbed into her lap, chewing on the fleshy center of the snack in his little fingers. The juice spilled down over his chin and got onto his red Elmo shirt as he bit into it. Mommy pulled out a cloth from thin air and wiped the mess from his chin then kissed him along his neck.

The sudden movement startled him, and he squealed in laughter. When he calmed his giggles, he pointed to his neck and demanded, "Again!"

"Oh, my little Baby Shark is a tickle monster?"

"Yeah!" He turned in her lap and tickled her around her ear and the back of her head. She roared in laughter, and the boy screamed in delight. "Tickle tickle tickle!" he teased and ran his sticky fingers over her chin and cheek.

Mommy grabbed up his fingers in her big hands and pulled him into her mouth! "Mommy no bitey!"

"That's it! Mommy's gonna eat all your tickle fingers! No more tickles for my little Prince!"

"Mommy no!" He squirmed as he laughed but didn't try and pull away. He knew she wasn't going to really eat his fingers. It was just a game. He was always safe with Mommy.

She pulled him up into a big cuddle and kissed him and said, "I love you more than anything in my life Henry."

He noticed the tears in his mother's eyes and tried to reassure her. "I wuv you, Mommy. Don cry."

She squeezed him tight and laid another kiss on him then let him return to his snack, which he did so happily. Mommy picked up her cell phone, and he watched as her thumbs bounced against the screen faster than anything he could ever imagine.

"Shit," she said as she stared at the screen.

"Shit!" he repeated with a devious giggle. That was a word that made everyone pay attention to him. He liked it when everyone was paying attention to him. When all the eyes were looking, and all the lips were smiling, and everyone was happy. That was one of the words that made everyone he cared about happy.

"Baby,  _please_ stop saying that word," Mommy looked at him, but the smile she had on her mouth got bigger when he shook his head no.

Her laugh is the best thing in the entire world. He loved making her laugh. She looked down at him and said, "You are most certainly your mother's son." Her laugh got bigger when he agreed with her, and he reached for another grape. He grabbed one more and that one he shared with her slipping it into her mouth for her. "Grapes are good, Mommy."

Her musical laughter stopped when the front door opened and closed, and Mommy said with distraction, "That's right my boy."

She got up off of the floor and rushed off into the other room calling for his Daddy Shark. Henry grabbed his truck and drove it along the outer rim of the coffee table, then around near the plate of delicious grapes and parked it. His little fingers scooped up as many of the slippery pieces of fruit he could and dumped them into the back end of the tiny yellow plastic dump truck.

A loud sound startled him from his work, and he looked up expectantly towards the hallway. Another loud sound and Mommy cried out in surprise, "Get your hands off me!"

A big banging thump sounded, and the little boy backed away from the table just a little and waited to see if his Mommy would come back and make the scary noises and scary voices stop. Mommy's angry voice yelled, "If you touch a hair on his head, I'll make sure you'll regret the day you were hatched, moth!"

"You? With what magic dear?" A stranger lady said with an amused chuckle as she walked into the room and Henry eyed her warily.

"Henry  _run!"_  his mother commanded, but it was far too late. The mean lady with the tiny eyes surrounded him, and he screamed as loud as he could as he was scooped up helplessly. A cool pale hand covered his mouth silencing his screams, and another arm wound its way around him as if it were a big white snake, twisting tighter and tighter holding his struggling body still.

"Blue!" Mommy screamed as the mean snake lady carried him into the other room. He was scared, sure but Mommy was scared too, and she was sad. Her tears were messy all on her face, and she cried super big sad tears. Her sad tears made everything feel so much worse!

"Please," Mommy said super soft.

"I knew I'd live to see the day the Evil Queen begged."

Mommy was leaning against the wall, her hands were held together by a white tree branch that came out of the white wall, winding its way around her, growing strong as she struggled.

"We are fulfilling his grandmother's wish," the mean lady said.

"His mother can reverse the spell! Please don't!"

"How badly would it harm you if the boy was ripped limb from limb?"

Mommy's dark watery eyes grew in terror, and she whispered, "It would harm the Savior!"

The mean lady laughed and said, "She's known the child for barely a few months, I'd hardly think she is attached. She did give him away after all… Unlike the Evil Queen who I suspect will never recover from the loss."

The big cool hand wrapped its way up around Henry's cheek and stroked it gently. It was supposed to be a nice touch. Mommy runs her fingers into his hair and strokes down his cheek when she looks at him with soft loving eyes and that feels good. This lady didn't feel good, and Henry cried out for his mother. "Help Mommy, monster!"

Mommy's face got super duper mads, and she said in a super scary voice, "She will destroy you Blue. I've felt her magic, and she could snuff you out of existence in a mere thought."

The mean lady laughed at Mommy's scary voice which made Mommy lunged forward and struggled against the tree wall. "The child will never learn, her mother has already spoken to us about her desire to strip her magic so mishaps like this won't ever happen again."

"No, she's learning how to control it! Snow, as usual, is full of it!"

The mean lady shoved him into another scary lady's hands, and tiny eyes got smaller as the pointy face leaned into him. Black eyes scared him when she said in a low voice, "Feed him to the wolf."

Henry's eyes grew wide as he understood what the mean lady was saying. He kicked and screamed, and as he was carried from the house, he could see his mother struggling to free herself. Her tears were worse than his fear of the wolf that would gobble him up; as if she knew how terrible it was going to be and she was scared for him. As the front door closed, Mommy screamed and then suddenly she was silent.

* * *

It took several hours to contain the fire, but they lost a major hub of commerce in the process. The cleanup crew and rebuilding effort would be done with manual labor thus creating jobs for people who were now suddenly out of work, and the entire attempt seemed to give Snow some political sway from the town and eased tensions surrounding her allowing the fire to spread as it had. Emma had a strong talk with the new Mayor and gave her some ultimatums when it came to public safety and utilities.

The first act the Princess did when she gained office was lower taxes across the board to win favor and settle the people into financial mollification while the local government worked out the kinks. This tit-for-tat came at great expense to the general running of the town, and it was struggling to recover. Snow seemed to listen to what Emma was saying and agreed with the changes much more openly than she normally would have and she thought perhaps it was due to running things like a monarchy wasn't exactly working in her favor.

"Honey! I'm home!" Emma called into the well-lit home of Regina Mills.

Emma dumped her car keys on the countertop in the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to grab a bottled water. Turning, she noticed a stool under the island was tipped over, so she righted it and walked deeper into the house. The television was on with a warning message across the large screen asking if they were still watching the show that was playing. Emma picked up the remote and returned to the Netflix home screen then called into the quiet house, "Regina?"

She frowned when she saw a small yellow dump truck tipped over on the coffee table. Henry's afternoon snack that had been piled in the cargo area of the toy was spread across the wooden surface. After looking around the first floor, she headed upstairs and quickly found that the level was also empty, so she took out her phone and texted Regina.

**Emma: Hey, I'm home. Where are you guys?**

She headed back downstairs and peeked into the garage and saw the brunette's vehicle was in its place before texting the woman again.

**Emma: Your house has too many rooms, don't make me look.**

When she hit send on her text, she heard the distinct blip of the Queen's cell phone from the living room and made her way back in and picked the device up. Several of Emma's unanswered text messages showed up in the lock screen, and she started to worry. She looked around the empty living room, and the silence was deafening. She ran to the kitchen and took a closer look at the chair that had been dumped over when she first got in. There was nothing amiss, but that didn't stop the woman's stomach from flipping as she considered the fact that her son and his mother were missing.

She pulled out her phone and tried not to panic. Perhaps the woman's magic had recovered, and she merely poofed her and the boy somewhere. She looked through her contacts and then called Ruby.

"Hey," Emma greeted when the phone was picked up.

"You home?"

"Yeah I just got in, but, uh... Regina and the baby aren't here."

"Oh, Henry's here at the diner."

"Oh!" Emma exclaimed, relieved. "Is Regina getting dinner? Tell her I want onion rings and not french fries."

Her relief was cut short when her friend replied, "Uh, no. Snow said all hands on deck because of the fire. I assumed that included Regina."

"What?" Emma thought perhaps Mary Margaret had taken her suggestions to heart and had decided to finally put her pride aside and ask the Queen for help running the town. The woman had only 29 years of experience successfully running the place.

"Yeah, some rando fairy dropped off Henry "at her Queen's command" which I assume they mean Snow and not Regina, but he's been here for a better part of the afternoon."

"Uh alright, um I'll be down in a few," Emma looked at the time and saw that it was well passed Henry's dinner time and asked, "Has the kid eaten?"

"No, I think he's scared of me."

"What? Let me talk to him."

She could hear the waitress try and coax the boy and Emma's heart broke at his whimpers, and when he started crying, the woman got back on the phone and said, "Yeah your kid totally hates me."

"What did you do to him?"

"Seriously Swan? I didn't do anything! He was super quiet and scared when that nun dropped him off, and it wasn't until Leroy told him I was a wolf did he start to freak his shit."

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed with annoyance, "That guy's always stirring shit."

"Well he won't eat, he won't engage, and he is just curled up on one of the booth seats in the back."

Emma's heart broke and said, "Tell him Daddy Shark is on the phone."

She could hear the phone get placed on a surface and then slid into place and a small, scared voice asked, "Emma?"

Emma's eyes shimmered, and she pressed down her emotion, and she answered, "Yeah kid, it's me. You okay?"

"I want Mommy!"

"Me too dude, listen, I'm gonna come and get you and then you me and Mommy are gonna get some foods is that okay?"

"Yeah. Daddy Chark is gonna rescue Baby Chark from the wolf?"

Emma smiled and reassured, "Ruby isn't going to hurt you, baby, she's a nice wolf and our friend."

"Our friend?"

"Yeah kid, she's a nice wolf."

"Will she help us rescue Mommy from the monsters?"

"Why do you think Mommy is with monsters?" Emma dreaded the answer, thinking perhaps Snow had done something vicious to Regina while she was trying to get her help with the town affairs; knowing them both there was most likely a fight.

"Because."

"If that lady scared you, it's okay. Mommy is super strong; she's not going to let anyone hurt her."

"Yeah, dey hurt her Emma."

Emma smiled sadly over the concern her son had for his mother. It warmed her heart knowing how he loved her enough to be worried. "I'm gonna go get Mommy right now, and we're going to come and get you okay?"

"Okay, Emma."

"Be good for Ruby, remember, she's a  _nice_ wolf."

"Okay bye-bye," he said, and she heard the waitress retrieve the phone from little fingers.

"Hey. Did he say someone  _hurt_ Regina?"

"Yeah, I'm sure he was just scared. Snow probably came to talk to her about town budgeting, and you know how they mix."

"Yeah like oil and water."

"Exactly. I'm going to call town hall and get a dinner order, pretty sure the kid is going through grape withdrawals."

"He'll eat grapes?"

"Try and stop him, I'm pretty sure he'll gnaw off your paw for a grape."

"It's very demeaning to have my hands referred to as paws when I am not in wolf form, Swan," Ruby teased.

"Sorry I'm not up on my social justice lycan lingo," she snarked then chuckled as she marveled at how the waitress could put her at ease. She's never been one to open up to people, but her relationship with the wolf was as if they'd been friends for a lifetime. She counted on her in ways she's never relied on anyone and the knowledge that the woman would be there when she needed her to be, was a little freeing.

She said her goodbyes then called the Mayor's office at City Hall knowing Snow would have insisted on making the meeting formal, wanting to make Regina feel as powerless as possible during the process. Emma knew exactly where she got her anger issues from, and it wasn't her mild-mannered father.

Her call went through to the off-hours voicemail, and Emma hung up and dialed Snow directly. "Regina forgot her cell phone, is she still with you?" she asked without the formality of greeting.

"Emma," the White Princess leveled and the blonde got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Whatever you guys did freaked the fuck out of my kid, and I am not impressed."

"Yes, I understand. That was... unavoidable."

Emma rolled her eyes at the missed attempt at an apology, "Whatever. Let me talk to her will you?"

"I'm afraid I can not."

Emma noticed the careful words her mother spoke and started to pace feeling anxious about the woman's tone. "Did she already leave to go pick up Henry?"

"No," Snow said carefully.

"Why can't I talk to her?"

"She isn't here."

Emma shook her head feeling herself get irritated at being forced to drag out the information she wanted from the Princess. "Okay. Where is she?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Safe? What the hell do you mean,  _safe?"_

"I mean she is somewhere she won't do any harm."

Emma felt her confusion give way to anger and anger to fear and all she could hear was her child's little voice, "Yeah, dey hurt her Emma." She gulped when her vision was overtaken by cloudy grey smoke. When her eyes cleared, she looked around the familiar decor of the Mayor's office. Her mother was standing at the window with her phone to her ear, and there were six or seven nuns who seemed very startled to see Emma appear before them.

"You hurt her!" Emma accused in a loud voice gaining the attention of her mother and father.

"I did no such thing!" Snow denied with cartoonish shock.

"Not that she doesn't deserve it," Mother Superior hissed off to the side catching Emma off guard.

"We are the heroes Emma; we don't  _hurt_ people. We  _protect_ people, and that's what I'm doing."

"Where is she? I want to see her. Now," Emma demanded, her fear growing in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm afraid for you sweetheart. I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm not asking. I'm the Sheriff any prisoners fall under my jurisdiction."

Blue scoffed and said, "It isn't like we live in a democracy Savior."

Emma narrowed her eyes and leveled a look on the older woman and hissed, "If we have no democracy then my title to you is Princess, mind your place."

"Emma you need to calm down," the White Princess warned and Emma saw fear in the woman's eyes, so she looked down at her hands which were glowing with white magic.

A sonic wave blasted away from her, and every fairy in the room jumped as their wands all exploded back into the fairy dust from which they were created. Emma felt her heart thunder in her chest, and she looked toward her parents and apologized, "I didn't mean to do that."

"You need to calm down!" Snow demanded harshly.

"You need to tell me where the fuck Regina is!"

With palms raised the shorter brunette moved toward her, "Emma I can not in good conscience allow you anywhere near her until your magic is bound."

"What?"

"We all saw what happened last night. You are the Evil Queen's soulmate, aren't you?"

"I.. yeah. Why?"

"She will use you to destroy us once and for all."

"She isn't the same person she was when she cast the curse. She's changed, Mary Margaret."

"Regina is apt at playing with your belief system. She is a  _user_. A  _manipulator_ and she is  _highly_ skilled. She will do  _anything_ for power."

Emma shook her head in disbelief, "No. She is my soulmate."

"I know you think that will change who she is, but I promise you, everything I'm doing is to protect you and Henry."

Emma's eyes hardened, and she spat, "Nothing you've done has ever been about me or my son!"

"Everything I've done, I've done for you sweetheart, but I have bigger things to think of; I am their sovereign. I need to think of my people."

"I'm not letting you bind my magic, Mary Margaret," she used the woman's cursed name purposefully to remind herself that this woman was her friend.

Snow looked to Blue with worry etched across her face, and the woman said, "It will take time, but we will be able to repair our wands."

The pixie-haired woman looked back at the Savior with pity in her eyes, "I'm afraid you won't have much of a choice."

"We'll see about that," Emma promised as she turned from the scene, roughly pushed passed the Blue Fairy, and stormed out of the office.

Not knowing where Regina was scared her, and in the face of the smug heroes, that fear was gaslit. Her mind spun as she wallowed in her helplessness and she struggled to pull together a plan. She looked around the mostly empty parking lot and realized she didn't have her vehicle, and after several failed attempts to control her magic so she could transport herself, she stomped towards Main Street and Granny's.


	17. Chapter 17

It was dusk as she trudged up the well lit side street that connected City Hall with the main drag of Storybrooke. Her boots crunched pebbles into the wet sidewalk as she marched toward her child. Her child who might never get changed back to his rightful age. Not if the fairies bound her magic. Not if she never found Regina.

She considered for one terrifying moment that she had little to no control over her magic and there really was nothing she could do to stop the Charmings from binding her against her will. Were they just doing what they think is right? Are they? It wasn't as if she hadn't considered the binding as a solution herself. Is she a loose cannon? Is binding her magic the only way? If she agrees and sacrifices Henry's past, will they release Regina?

Would she just be sacrificing Henry's past? Would she be sacrificing his future? What if Regina was right about the boy not getting any older?

She remembered how the small woman curled up into her bed the night before and cried when she finally came down off of her magical high. Just as an addict struggles between the payoff and the self-loathing, Regina both wanted and feared Emma's magic. The older woman made promises, not to Emma but to herself in the Savior's presence. A way to hold herself accountable for her actions. For their son. For their future, together. The power exchange had taken its toll on Regina, making it more difficult to use her own magic.

" _So you can't feel your magic at all?"_

" _It's there; I just can't touch it the way I'm used to."_

" _I don't understand."_

" _My magic has always had a darker tone to it, Emma. I was taught to use it through suffering, torment, rage, and despair. The pathways to reach my magic seem to have been altered somehow."_

" _Like you need a detour?"_

_Regina's worried look softened, and she offered the Savior a small smile and said, "In a way, yes."_

" _Alright well, how?"_

" _I don't know."_

" _Will we have to wait to fix Henry?"_

" _I'm not sure of the cost of relying solely on your magic Emma." A worried look from the Queen made her reconsider. Emma thought back to the limp body in her arms earlier that night and shook her head as tears pricked at the back of her eyes. The fear she experienced had only been felt one other time in her life; the day her child lay lifeless in a hospital bed. "If there is any cost, it is too much. I…" Emma thickly swallowed as she wrapped her arms around the brunette and said, "I won't risk you. He's okay the way he is right? I mean if it takes months or whatever to relearn your magic then whatever, right? When we change him back will he go back to how old he was when I first zapped him or will he be months older? Will that hurt him?"_

" _Darling, I'm uncertain his age is progressing in this state at all."_

" _So he's in limbo?"_

" _I am genuinely uncertain. I gathered very little information when I probed your spell, but…"_

" _It's a possibility."_

" _Yes."_

_Emma tightened her grip around the older woman and promised, "We'll figure something out. Together"_

Now Emma was alone, as she has always been. Helpless and useless. Not at all the Shark Family protector, she claimed herself to be. Even if she somehow found Regina before the fairies bound her magic, what would the cost of a magical war between them and the Charming fairy army? Could she unleash her anger against her parents? The town? Under the light of her magic was a simmering rage that had always been apart of Emma Swan. Before the Savior. Before the Hero. Injustices of her life have hardened her in ways she's confident her birth parents were clueless.

_If she only had control!_

She ripped open the front door to Granny's diner. It was virtually empty with the exception of Leroy sitting on a stool sipping his coffee. Little Henry was standing on top of the long counter carefully ripping open pink sugar packs and pouring out the contents into his mouth. No one was close enough to the boy to make sure he wouldn't fall off, and Emma's stomach bottomed out at the perception of danger. "Kid! What are you doing?"

"Emma!" the boy yelled and ran down the center of the countertop and Emma held her breath and rushed to him just as he jumped, confident she would catch him. She wrapped him up in her arms and breathed a sigh of relief that he was okay.

"What are you doing up there kid? Counters are for foods, not for feets." She walked closer to Leroy and noticed how many empty sugar packs were on the counter and asked the dwarf, "Why were you letting him eat sugar?"

"If you can't tell the difference between me and his mother, note, I'm much prettier," the man gruffed.

"Not in this realm," the leggy brunette said as she stumbled through the swinging door that led to the kitchen.

"Where's Mommy?" Henry asked, and Emma stalled. She hadn't considered what she was going to tell the boy as she walked to the diner.

Her attention was pulled from her swirling despair by a question from the waitress, "Get everything sorted, Swan?"

As soon as the pair of green eyes met, Emma crumpled under the stress and ran to her friend, crashing into her she clung to the thin frame as if it were the only anchor to reality and she closed her eyes and shook her head. "They took her Rubes," a small voice whispered.

"Regina? Who took her?" Ruby asked feeling her typically composed friend fall apart in her arms.

"Snow," Emma closed her eyes and shook her head and said, "the fairies, I don't know. They have her somewhere, hidden."

Ruby pulled back and looked at her friend. Visible genuine emotion wasn't something the Savior was known to express openly. Not without a stone wall of angsty snark to hide behind. The girl before her was dawning an ill-fitting mask, and her eyes betrayed her fear and anguish. "Okay. It's a small town, Swan; we'll find her." She looked to the little boy slung on Emma's hip, clinging to the woman, staring up at her, seeing the same fear Ruby saw. "Hey!" she exclaimed pulling the kid's attention. "The big bad wolf is on the case! Operation find Mommy Shark!" She smiled wide and rubbed the crown of both mother and son then kissed them both leaving a red lip mark on each of them.

"Yay!" Henry cheered alongside her excitement. "Auntie Wubie get dem monsters!"

The brunette pinned a look at her friend and said in a serious voice, "We'll find her." When the blonde's head nodded, she let go of the pair and started to clean up the mess Henry made on the countertop and thought out loud, "So a prison, because we know," Ruby looked toward the man sitting at the bar and enunciated, " _someone_ , won't just stay put."

Emma broke out of her daze and took a seat next to Leroy and added, "The only jail in town is at the station."

"You have an entire world to live in Sister,  _must_ you sit right next to me?"

Emma turned her head and looked at the grumpy little man and said, "That's  _sheriff_ to you."

"Whatever, I voted for Sydney. I'll never trust a skirt with a badge."

Emma rolled her eyes and moved herself over a seat then watched as Ruby picked up discarded glasses and mugs and dumped the contents into the sink before dropping them into a big grey bin. "They wouldn't put her at the station. They said they wanted to keep her away from me," Emma added.

"How about the animal shelter? They have cages."

"Oh man," Emma looked down thinking about Regina out in some wet concrete cell, caged like an animal.

"It would need to be protected by magic, probably fairy dust," Ruby added with a nod, proud of herself for finding the most likely of places the Queen could be. "There's no way anyone would seek out the Dark One for help."

"Fairies won't use magic out at the shelter," the dwarf informed and took a drink from his coffee cup as if he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"Why not?" the women asked in unison.

"Too close to the mines filled with crystal. In this world, their magic is unstable. Who knows what effect using magic strong enough to hold," he quoted with his fingers and rolled his eyes as he enunciated, " _someone_ , would have."

"Shit," Emma said under her breath but silently kept the option open. There was a good chance the fairies knew, but no one else needed to know Regina had limited power.

"Shit," Henry mimicked her. With a chuckle, she pulled him into her and soon her laugh turned to silent tears as she let the fear she was holding at bay, touch her.

It was the not knowing. Regina was defenseless. Were they torturing her? Snow said they were the good guys, but do good guys kidnap people from their homes? Rip their kid away and… hurt them in front of him? Will they kill her to keep them apart?

Emma shook her head from the unhelpful thoughts, getting control over herself and asked, "Has he eaten anything other than straight sugar?"

"Yeah, he had chicken strips," Ruby distractedly said as she typed into her cell phone.

Emma nodded her understanding and held the boy on her lap closer to her. She rubbed her hand along his back the same way she's seen Regina do when the woman was soothing him, and the little boy rested his head against Emma's shoulder and relaxed in her arms.

Her mind turned away from the unknown horrors Regina Mills was currently facing and toward a plan to rescue the woman. The Blue Fairy said it would take time to rebuild their wands, but how much time?

Emma turned to the dwarf sitting next to her and asked, "How long does it take to build a wand from scratch?"

"Why?"

"Official police business," Emma answered with a challenging eyebrow lift.

The man huffed an eye roll and said, "Right."

"Leroy," Emma warned and pinned him with a look.

"A couple of weeks, under the best circumstances."

"Best circumstances meaning a world where their magic was stable?"

"You got it, Sister."

A lot could happen in a couple of weeks. Emma wondered if she could reason with Snow on Henry's behalf, make her see this was the only way to save him. Perhaps if she agreed to the binding after restoring Henry, would they release Regina?

A war raged within her, between her desire to be the Savior her son looked up to, and the lost little girl she knew she was. The lost girl whose happiness had been unfairly taken away once again. She wanted to lash out and hurt the heroes for what they've done, and that bubbling anger frightened her. She knew exactly what she was capable of doing and mixing that survival instinct with the world's strongest magic; she was afraid.

"She's at the asylum," Ruby said factually, breaking Emma out of her contemplation.

Emma looked up and asked, "What? How do you know she's there?"

Ruby held her cell phone up and shrugged her shoulders and said, "I asked Snow."

"And she just told you?"

"It's a secret from  _you_ , Swan, not  _me_."

"Where's the asylum?"

"I don't know.  _You're_ the Sheriff! Where's the asylum?"

"In the hospital's sub-basement," Leroy answered.

"How the hell do you know that?" Emma snapped, her emotion on edge.

He thumbed to the back of his jacket and said, "Your sheriffing skills are awe-inspiring. I'm maintenance."

Emma looked back to Ruby, and for the first time in hours, she felt real hope. "Come on let's go."

After leaving Leroy the keys to lock up, the pair rushed out to where the wolf's cherry red Mustang was parked, and Emma looked down at the boy and back at the car and said, "Oh man, no car seat. She's going to kill me."

"Yeah she keel you!" the little boy giggled.

Ruby looked over the roof of the car and said, "It's an emergency, it's not like the cops are gonna give us a ticket.  _You're_ the cops!"

Emma looked her in the eye and said, "She's gonna kill me, then you and then me again."

"We can always drive up to the mansion and go get his car seat," the wolf offered with an eye roll.

"No," Emma shook her head and explained, "it's in the opposite direction and the same distance to the hospital."

"Alright, but now she's just going to kill you because I offered the safe alternative and was overruled." The wolf pointed a finger at the boy and said, "And I have a witness she's sure to believe."

Emma's face fell into a pout, and she grumbled, "You are a terrible human being."

"Perhaps, but I am a fantastic wolf, and we are survivors," the young brunette said with a smirk as she got behind the wheel of her car.


	18. Chapter 18

The Savior felt anxious about getting to Regina. The short seven and a half minute drive from Main Street to downtown Storybrooke seemed like it took a literal eternity. She felt the cool clamminess of her palms and tried to rub them dry on the side of her jeans.

"Auntie Wubie's car loud," the little boy said, pulling her from her worry. She looked down at him and wondered if it had been a good idea to bring the boy with her into this unknown situation. What if they were walking into a fight? There was no way she was leaving that asylum without the Queen, but would she be putting him in danger? She had no one she could trust with him, less Ruby, whom she was grateful had joined her without hesitation. She kissed the little boy on the head and tried to calm her nerves for him.

"Hey listen kid, if we get separated, I want you to find Auntie Ruby, and you stay with her. She'll keep you safe, okay?"

"Okay," he replied shyly then added, "My tummy dun feel good."

Emma kissed him again and said, "That's a good boy. We're gonna get Mommy and go home soon, okay kid?"

"Okay," he replied then cuddled into her.

They arrived at the hospital lobby, and Emma noticed it was virtually empty. "Where the hell is everyone?"

Ruby rushed to the elevators and called over her shoulder, "The fire attracted a lot of attention. The diner was dead all day too."

They entered the elevator, and the brunette selected the sub-basement button only to have a little panel open to reveal a keypad. "Uh… there's a code." Ruby asked, "What is it?"

"I don't know! I didn't even know we had an asylum!"

"Okay well we must have had it during the curse," Ruby said and considered.

Emma looked up and said, "Every password was Henry's birthday."

"What?"

"When I first got here. The login password for everything at the station and City Hall was Henry's birthday. Zero-eight-fifteen-zero-one."

Ruby punched in the number, and the elevator started to move. Emma laughed and pressed her lips against her son's head and said, "Bless your mother's lack of creativity."

When they entered the dark, cramped L shaped hallway, they were stopped by a tall, imposing irritated nurse.

Emma eyed her up then quickly said, "I'm the Sheriff," flashing her badge, "I'm here on official business."

"You're holding a toddler, Ma'am," the nurse accused, looking at the baby in her arms.

"Junior Deputy program," Ruby interjected with an award-winning smile.

"And a waitress," the nurse sneered.

"Senior Deputy program?" Ruby explained with a shrug of her shoulders.

Emma decided to bypass the nurse all together and handed Henry over to Ruby and said, "Don't let her move."

The nurse attempted to reach for the security phone only to get a low, menacing growl from the wolf in response. Emma trekked down the row of rooms, stopping at each to peek inside. The third one she opened she spotted the Queen curled up on the floor in the corner of the room. Her hair was uncharacteristically disheveled and was dressed in pale blue scrubs. Emma called her name to get her attention, but it seemed as though the older woman couldn't hear her. She looked up toward the nurse and demanded, "Keys!"

"I don't have the authority-"

"I don't give a fuck! Give me the keys NOW!"

"What I mean is, I don't have them."

"You work here; do you not?"

The nurse looked at the blonde with a level of contempt before stating, "They were  _taken_."

Emma pooled her patience and returned her attention to the door and focused on magically moving the bolt that held the door closed. After a few moments she heard the click when the metal lock released, and she pulled it open. She noticed the Queen flinch and cower into herself when she entered the room, and so she tentatively called the woman's name, "Regina?"

Slowly the brunette lifted her head and the agony Emma saw on the older woman's face broke her heart. "Regina, oh my god, what happened?" She rushed the Queen and slid down next to her. She felt an urgency to soothe her and gathered her up as she felt the brunette fall to pieces in her embrace and couldn't fathom what had her in such a state. She felt her heart break as Regina came undone and whispered reassurances and promises to her that she would protect her.

_Promises she would keep._

"They killed him, Emma," the older woman spoke, devastation thick in her voice.

"They killed who?"

"Hen-henry."

"No Gina, Henry is safe," Emma whispered.

"No, they took him, she said she would… tear him apart… to punish me..."

Emma pulled the woman into her and held her tight, "I've got him. I've got him, and I've got you."

"Where is he?" The tone of the Queen was frantic as if she were unable to believe the words Emma spoke.

"He's here," Emma turned in her embrace but didn't let go of the Queen as she called over her shoulder, "Rubes?"

As soon as the wolf entered the little cell, Regina scrambled to her feet and ran over, pulling the boy from her arms and broke down in agonizing sobs. Emma grabbed them both and whispered, "I've got you now. Everything is going to be okay."

* * *

The group made their way out to the car, and Regina quietly requested Emma sit in the back with her and the baby. It was the way she asked that pulled at the Savior, "Please Emma?"

She'd never seen the Queen so broken before. She expected anger and wrath and perhaps pulling wings off of every fairy in town, but this Regina had lived with the loss of her son for the better part of a day. There was nothing of the rage Emma felt herself. She had her arm around the Queen, and their child was nestled in between them. He craned his head and said quietly, "Dem monsters hurt Mommy Shark."

"I know baby," Emma replied in a low tone then kissed him and his mother on the head.

"Uh, Emma, we've got a problem," Ruby said as she slowed the vehicle at the entrance to Mifflin Street. Emma looked to where the wolf's attention was and saw the two nuns walking up the street toward the Mayor's mansion.

"Shit," Emma cursed and ducked down in the seat. Random nuns on Regina's street meant they were at least watching the house for Emma. Perhaps Snow figured out that Ruby was helping her and put her watchdogs in play. Whatever the reason, her family wouldn't be safe there, they were in no condition to fight so she decided to run. "Go!"

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here!"

Ruby gunned the gas and the car peeled up the road.

They pulled into the back loading dock for the inn and Ruby parked the car. "You guys can hide out in one of the rooms."

"They won't be safe here. Snow comes here all the damn time!"

"Not the inn. No one rents rooms from us. No one will look for you here. I'll go get the keys and see if the coast is clear." Ruby took her friend's hand in hers and said, "They'll be safe here. Trust me."

* * *

"Emma you can't," the Queen exclaimed as she laid down the boy on the large bed in the center of their room.

"I have to Regina. Now that I know you are safe, I  _have_ to go talk to Snow."

"We are not safe! They know! They know I don't have access to my magic and they are going to take him again!" Red rimmed watery eyes pleaded with the Savior, and Emma's heart broke, but she felt compelled to confront her mother.

"Ruby is here, and she'll keep you two safe."

"The wolf? Are you mad? I don't trust her! Not with my son! I need your magic to keep him safe!"

"Hey!" Ruby yelled from the doorway. "I had him all day, and he is perfectly fine!"

Emma turned to her friend and said, "Rubes can you give us a minute?" The taller brunette rolled her eyes but complied, and the blonde turned back to her son's mother. Standing close with the inability to keep her hands to herself she stroked the pale cheek of the Queen and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Not even remotely."

"I'm going to fix this Regina. Right now."

"Well if I had access to my magic there wouldn't be anything to fix!" The brunette huffed and turned from the Savior hiding away her emotion. "They just came in and took him, and there was nothing I could do." Emma slid her hands over the Queen's hips and pulled her back and said into her ear, "You're right. That's not your fault. You are one badass witch, and they got lucky."

Regina hummed her agreement then admitted, "I hate feeling like this."

"I know," Emma gently said. "I won't be gone long, and we'll decide what we're going to do when I get back."

"What  _we're_ going to do?"

"Yeah, we need a plan," Emma answered, holding herself together in the face of potential rejection. "But I need to talk to Mary Margaret. I can't move forward until I know one way or another if the threats to my son's life came from my mother or not. I  _need_ to know at least that." Emma tried to convey her desire in a way the brunette would understand and in a moment the Queen conceded, much to Emma's surprise.

"Alright, but the mutt stays on the porch," Regina said quietly then took a deep breath and turned back and melted into the Savior's arms.

Emma slid her hands up the Queen's back and held her. Her mind raced with all of the things she wanted to say to the older brunette, but nothing was bold enough to be verbalized. She felt grateful the woman was seemingly unharmed but also afraid that at any moment she could be in danger once again.  _This needed to end once and for all._

She pulled back from the brunette and whispered, "I'll be right back. Everything is going to be okay."

"Famous last words," the brunette commented with trepidation.


	19. Chapter 19

Emma Swan made her way to her parent's loft under cover of the new evening. She quietly made her way to their door to hear the distinct shrill voice of the Blue Fairy through the thin walls of the apartment.

"...She is a resourceful girl, Your Highness. Grumpy explained how they figured it out, and we're lucky he is ever faithful to the true crown. I told you she would get out and now they are unstoppable! We need to take immediate action against them!"

"She is my daughter!"

"I'm afraid it is obvious that the dark has irrevocably contaminated the princess of light. She's a menace and is a traitor against the crown. We must do everything in our power to save the kingdom; it's your responsibility!"

Emma's anger overtook her, and she burst through the door and shouted, "I'm not contaminated, and the only menace here is you, you dried up spinster hag!"

"Emma!" her mother's typically soft eyes grew wide in shock at the Savior's presence.

The Savior brushed passed the rigid stance of the fairy and rushed to her mother and said, "Did you threaten my son?" The blonde felt dizzy for a few seconds and leaned against the kitchen counter for support. "What the hell?" She looked down at her wrists and saw the shimmering aqua aura around them then looked up at the smug fairy holding a glowing wand in her hand and a smirk across her face. "Fucking Leroy," Emma mumbled as the Blue fairy all but admitted the deception as she shrugged her shoulders. The Savior turned to her mother in disbelief, "How could you do this to me?"

"It's the only way," Snow said softly.

"Seriously? What about Henry?"

"David is getting him as we speak. Blue will change him back, and Regina will return to her cell."

"You're still locking her up?" Emma exclaimed in disbelief, "Even though you've taken my magic? Why?"

"Regina's magic is still present dear if we allow her freedom she'll find a way to unbind you. She'll stop at nothing to gain your power. We simply cannot risk it," the blue fairy said with condescension.

Emma turned toward the brunette and clenched her fists. She could see the glee in the woman's dark eyes and knew she was just waiting for the chance to defend herself against the crazed, corrupted Savior. Instead, she turned back to her mother and pleaded, "She can't change him back Snow. No one in this town can undo it but me. Regina said…"

"Regina lies sweetheart."

"Not about this!" Emma yelled then jabbed her finger in Blue's direction and snapped, "She knows if she tries to undo my spell she will kill him! She admitted it to Regina! She taunted her with it!"

Uncertain eyes left the Savior and focused on the fairy for a moment before Snow lifted her chin and turned back to her daughter and said, "I don't believe it. Regina is lying to you."

"Regina was terrified when I broke her out of that cell. She was devastated. She thought he was dead. There is absolutely no way she faked that."

"You're wrong. I know her. You don't. You just don't understand the ways of magic and how magic can corrupt you at your very soul. I've seen what magic can do to the purest of heart. Don't forget I knew Regina before the darkness took over her and I refuse to allow that to happen to you!"

"Stop telling me what I don't know! You don't know! Regina has changed! Henry changed her! My magic changed her!"

"Sweetheart you are seeing what you want to see…"

"Let me ask you this Mary Margaret, would the Evil Queen, who had full free access to my magic for the last couple of hours have let any of you live after the shit you pulled today?"

Snow looked nervously over at Blue then said, "Had she, she knows she would have lost your allegiance that is clear. She plays a long game and is a manipulative liar."

"Do you think I've never dealt with liars before? I had that woman's number the moment I stepped into town! I know when Regina's lying!" The Savior stood her ground and added, "And I know when she isn't."

"You don't have a superpower Emma," Snow said sadly.

"Maybe not, but I know that woman in ways you can never understand and I'm warning you now, you stay the hell away from her and our kid!"

The princess's phone rang on the counter and Snow looked down and smiled sadly and said, "There's your father now. I promise you, Emma, this will all be over soon." Snow answered the phone, and her smug smile faded when she asked, "Not there? Leroy said… Okay… I see. Well check the mansion; she's probably trying to run." Snow got off the phone with her husband and peered at her daughter and said, "I told you. I told you she would take him! You know nothing of her!"

Emma slammed her fist on the counter and barked, "You're wrong! And I'm not allowing you to risk my son's life because you think you know better!" She felt the anger well within her and she couldn't control herself when she spat, "You think you're a better parent than me? I may have given up my kid but I made sure as hell he was safe and had a family to go to when I did! I didn't just stick him in a tree trunk with a wooden puppet and hope for the fucking best!" She shook her head and got in her mother's face and screamed, "I am ten times the mother you will ever hope to be! You pompous self-righteous know-it-all!" She turned from the pair of brunettes and made her way toward the door and called over her shoulder, "You've made your choice, Princess. I hope you choke on it."

She jogged down the stairs, her adrenaline pumping in her veins and was quietly grateful she hadn't had magic during her meltdown. She was angry yes, but she didn't want to do anything she couldn't undo later after she'd calmed down. Not that there would be a later. She'd made her decision as soon as the blue fairy bound her magic. But first, she needed to find Regina so she called Ruby when she reached the street outside of her parent's loft.

"Hey, where's Regina?"

"She's laying down with Henry."

"Are you sure she's still there?" Emma worried her lip as she quickly made her way up the street toward Mifflin.

"Yeah I'm sure, I'm looking at her." The wolf hummed then informed, "Your dad showed up. I think Leroy sold us out."

"So you told him Regina ran?"

"No, he came right to the room. We told him what would happen if he took Henry."

"He believed her?"

"No, but he believed me. My wolf can feel how powerful you are dude, Regina isn't lying about that. If she thinks the fairies will hurt the kid by trying to unwork your spell or whatever, then I believe it."

"Thank you," Emma quietly said as she stalked up the street. "Let her sleep, will you? I'll be by in a little bit."

"You're leaving aren't you?"

"They bound my magic, Rubes. The only way to get my son back is to take him across the town line."

"Did you tell Snow you're leaving?"

"No, she'll just try and stop me, and I'm defenseless against her idiot fairy army. Two weeks to build a wand my ass." Emma sighed, "Fucking manipulative bitch."

"If you tell her this is the alternative, I think she'd make a different choice. She's not irrational."

"I tried. Blue is too… influence-y," the Savior gruffed as she made her way into the quiet, dark house on Mifflin and marched upstairs. "I won't risk them. I won't lose either of them."

"You know I get it. She's just my friend too, and this is going to break her heart."

"Yeah well right now, I don't give a fuck about her heart. I need to get my family to safety."

"Family?" Ruby asked knowingly.

"Shut up. You know what I mean!"

"Oh I do Swan, the question is, do you?"

"I'm going," Emma gruffed and got off the phone. She marched into her room first and quickly packed up her belongings into her duffle bag then dropped it at the top of the stairs before entering Regina's bedroom. She filled three bags full of outfits she'd seen the Mayor wear often and all of her toiletries. She dug around in the back of the woman's closet and pulled out another bag and went into Henry's bedroom and packed up all of his big boy clothes.

She hesitated at the drawers that held baby Henry's outfits and rationalized that they wouldn't need them. Instead of following her logic, she opened the drawer and pulled out a pair of Batman pajamas and packed them in with the big boy stuff for ten-year-old Henry. She, of course, missed her son being the young man he was, but she was going to miss the little boy he currently was, a whole lot. How much was actually surprising to her and instead of dwelling on it she simply packed away the rest of his stuff and started to load the Queen's car.

* * *

Emma climbed up onto the bed and nuzzled into the sleeping Mayor, "Regina?"

"Did she listen?" the brunette asked blinking her eyes open as she looked up at the Savior.

"No, but they did something to my magic, so there's that." Emma held out her arm for the Queen's inspection.

"Fantastic," Regina drawled then laid back and got comfortable.

"Can you undo what they did."

"Not tonight," Regina said then coaxed the hand she held around her hip and settled back into the Sheriff.

"Leave with me," Emma invited quietly, suddenly nervous about presuming the woman would want to do any such thing.

The brunette turned and looked up at worried green eyes and asked, "What?"

"We can't leave him like this; if he's in limbo…"

"We don't know that for sure," Regina reminded.

"Yeah but if he is he can't stay that way. As long as he's little he is in danger here. You're in danger here. Snow has blind faith in her fairy, and I won't risk either of you," Emma explained quietly.

"What are you suggesting?"

"We leave. We take him across the border."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out."

"Figure it out? That isn't much of a plan."

"I can't protect you here," Emma said and stroked a few stray strands of hair away from the Queen and considered that perhaps despite their chemistry and newfound soulmate status that maybe the brunette didn't at all feel the same way for her. She thought about Ruby's comments about Emma calling Regina and Henry her family, and she realized she meant it. It was what she wanted, and she was suddenly sure about it. However, that didn't mean that was what Regina wanted and maybe jumping to a solution and packing up the woman's belongings into the back of her car without talking to her first was a bit presumptuous.

Hearing the anxious tone in the younger woman Regina looked back and asked, "Are you serious? You want us just to leave?"

"Yes. Even if by some miracle Snow leaves Henry alone, they want you locked away. I won't let that happen, Regina."

The Queen considered their situation and then said, "We'll need to get some things from the house,"

"I've already packed," Emma informed quietly.

Dark eyebrows shot up in their surprise, and Regina asked, "You did?"

"I've started an entirely new life with less than what I packed in the trunk of your car. Anything else we need we can buy. I want to leave tonight," Emma replied with confidence she didn't necessarily feel.

Regina sat up and looked down on the blonde in disbelief. "Did things really go that badly with Snow?"

The Savior nodded her head.

"And you're willing to leave your life here, for us?"

Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she wrapped her hand around Regina's and laced their fingers and admitted, "I don't see it as leaving my life. I see it as running towards it."

Regina gasped as the words Emma spoke hit her and she leaned down and kissed the younger woman and whispered, "I'm feeling delusional again, Miss Swan."

"Precisely how I like you, Madam Mayor," Emma said with a smile and kissed her back.


	20. Chapter 20

After saying goodbye to her godmother, Emma loaded up the Queen and their son and headed out towards the edge of town. As they approached the leaving Storybrooke sign, Emma slowed and stopped the car and looked at Regina and said, "Unbuckle him from his seat, you know just in case it's like instant big."

With a nod, the Queen reached between the seats and unfastened her sleeping son from his car seat then nodded toward the Savior to continue on over the town line.

As they crossed a shimmer sparkled over the boy as he passed through the magical barrier, but he remained the sleeping toddler he was before they crossed it.

Emma stopped the car and looked back at the kid then turned to a stunned Regina and asked, "Why didn't he change?"

Regina leaned back and refastened the boy into his safety seat and answered with bite, "I don't know. Everything I know about magic says he should have been restored. Maybe the spell was permanent."

Uncertain as to where the sudden irritation was coming from Emma put the car into drive and with a sigh and a deep worried brow, Emma continued up the highway toward the next town over.

This failure weighed on the Savior as she drove and the silence of the Queen did nothing to help her increasing agitation about the situation. What if Regina was right? What if the spell she cast had always been permanent? What would have happened had they tried to reverse it? She swallowed thickly at the prospect and quietly thought about Henry.  _Their_ Henry, and how never seeing him again was a genuine possibility. How would Regina feel about her life with him being essentially erased? Would she resent the little boy as he grew up? Would she resent Emma? It was Emma's fault they were in this mess. How did she honestly feel about losing the young man Regina raised? Of course, she wanted the opportunity raising him with Regina presented, but what about the boy who showed up at her doorstep on her birthday and changed her life forever?

Emma parked the car in the loading dock of a cheap highway motel and wiped the stray tear that escaped over her cheek. The Motel Hello greeting had the letter O missing from the sign so in glowing red letters it said, "Motel Hell." She looked over at the brunette whose entire face was lit up in the red neon of the motel sign as she sat lost in thought staring out the window of the car. She could imagine what was going through the brunette's mind and didn't wish to catch the barbed end of whatever blame there was to be laid and quietly got out in order to check into the motel.

Once they got into the room, Emma made herself busy by unloading the car of the essential suitcases she packed for them all and realized as she was bringing bags into their room that she didn't pack any of Henry's clothes. Nothing that would fit his toddler body. She pulled his bag out and took out the black, blue and gold Batman pajamas she took and disrupted the boys sleep in order to change him.

"Emma?" the quiet voice drew her attention and she looked behind her to see the brunette was going through the boy's bag.

"I know," the blonde said. "I expected him to change back."

Regina asked the obvious question, "But you packed his little boy pajamas?"

"It was more for me than him," Emma shrugged her shoulders and tucked the boy back into his bed.

"You took a keepsake?" Emma shrugged again in response and pulled out her own bag and started looking for something to wear to bed.

"Emma? Didn't you want him to change back?"

"Of course I did!" Emma defended a little too harshly then flopped down on the edge of the bed and admitted, "But I like him like this too. This is all a disaster. I'm sorry Regina."

The older woman tentatively got closer to the blonde and tucked a finger under her dimpled chin and lifted her gaze to meet dark eyes. "It isn't a disaster, Miss Swan."

In the face of the Queen's encouragement, Emma started to tear up. She sniffled back and felt the raw emotion she'd been holding in all day. "I'm just so sorry!"

"This isn't your fault dear," the older woman soothed. "Things happen, and all we can do is our best."

"I just thought this was the answer. I thought this would fix everything. I'm sorry I dragged you two out here. Do you want to go home and find out if there's another way?"

The Queen broke eye contact and countered, "Do you wish to return home and seek another way?"

Emma shook her head and said, "Will you hate me if I say no?"

A thumb gently caressed the blonde's cheek, and a deep voice asked, "What is it that you  _want_ , Emma?"

"Remember the other morning when I woke up before you?"

"Only because it is a rarity," the brunette smirked then sat down next to the Savior on the bed.

_Emma had woken up before the Queen and looked over at her sleeping peacefully next to her. Her cheeks flushed and mouth slightly open breathing deep in her slumber. The blonde thought she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen as the morning sun leaked in through the blinds and slowly lit up the woman's face. Once she could no longer bear it, she gently kissed the side of her head and carefully removed herself from their bed._

_She poked her head into Henry's room and saw that the boy shared his mother's comfortable unconsciousness and smiled to herself as she made her way downstairs to make coffee. She poured herself a mug of the warm brew and sat down on one of the stools in the middle of the empty kitchen and enjoyed the silence of the morning. Soon arms slipped around her torso, and a warm set of lips kissed her cheek as one of the Queen's hands found their way to Emma's mug and as if it was something they'd always done Regina stole the mug and took a long satisfied drink from it and sighed, "You made coffee."_

Emma smiled shyly and said, "That was everything I want."

Regina pushed back some of Emma's long hair that fell into her face during her story and asked, "You want me to steal your coffee in the morning?"

Emma nodded her head, "I really like this domesticated thing we've made, and I don't want to lose it."

Regina pulled away and looked at their sleeping child and spoke a fear she'd kept buried for weeks, "Do you want to be with me, Emma?"

"I… yeah. I told you that."

Regina looked up, her stoned features giving away nothing but her eyes spoke volumes about the turmoil she was feeling. "Do you want  _me_? Or do you want your Shark Family and I'm just a consolation?"

Emma slid her hand over Regina's and quietly said, "I want  _you_ , Regina." She took a deep breath and thought about the barrage of emotions she went through that day and how she genuinely felt about Regina Mills. Not her son's other mother. Not the Mayor. Not even some fantastical Evil Queen from another realm, but the woman who had been torn from her life earlier that day and the ache her absence left. It was a pain, and fear unlike anything she'd experienced and a realization came to her. "I love you, Regina."

The Queen scoffed and repeated the sentiment in her stylistic snark, "You  _love_ me."

"Yeah."

"I think you're delusional."

Emma shot the older woman a look and snapped, "Why because it is unfathomable that someone could love you after the things you've done?"

The brunette opened her mouth only to shut it when she failed to come up with an adequate defense. The truth was that was exactly what she thought.

Emma didn't give her the chance to think of something snarky and said, "I thought I lost you today. I felt like my heart had been carved from my chest. I want you. I  _need_ you. I… I love you."

"Only because I happened to adopt your son…"

"That might be the reason why we met, but I fell for you because I've gotten to know you and found that I like you. Despite yourself. Despite our past. You understand me. You challenge me. You are exciting and funny and smart and beautiful and real with me. You don't pull your punches with me, sometimes literally, and I admire that."

"Perhaps you  _are_ a masochist."

"Whatever it is I am Regina, I want to be it with you." Emma cupped the brunette's cheek and leaned in and kissed her. She felt a sudden need to be closer and pushed the woman back and deepened their kiss. Every other time they'd been intimate, it was always in the shadow of their past. This moment was in the brilliant light of their future, and both women felt free of their historical binds.

Regina rolled them over and sat up, straddling the Savior and lifted the pale blue cotton top up over her head revealing herself. She leaned down and took control of the blonde's mouth, grinding her center into the younger woman and breathed, "I want you, Emma."

"Take off your pants," the blonde responded breathlessly as she palmed the darker woman's breasts.

"I mean, I want  _you_ ," the Queen explained quietly as if admitting such a weakness aloud would strike her down dead.

Emma was unable to contain her smile and asked, "You want our Shark Family?"

Regina pulled back and clarified, "I want…"

"Mommy?" The little boy's upset was heard in his voice, "I don't feel good!" A split second later the women heard him vomit and they detangled themselves from one another and rushed to their child's aid.

Regina picked him up when he started to cry and shot Emma a look when the blonde exclaimed, "Gross!"

"Emma!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! Is he okay?" Emma asked sheepishly.

Henry vomited again all over himself, and Regina then screamed in his upset.

"Holy crap what's wrong with him?"

"It's okay baby," Regina said to the boy and calmly carried him into the bathroom and turned on the shower. "What did he have for dinner?"

"Rubes gave him chicken nuggets."

"Anything else?"

"Uh no, I don't think so."

"Okay," Regina climbed into the shower shielding the boy from the spray with her body, she started to slowly rinse them both off. With soothing whispers and gentle touches, Regina calmed him down until his wails were mere whimpers and even as he continued to toss sick over them both she kept his cries to a minimum.

Emma stood outside of the shower and felt helpless as her child continued to get sick and worried about what could be causing it. "What's wrong with him?" she finally asked when she came to no conclusions on her own.

"Here, pull off his bottoms," Regina instructed, and Emma helped undress the boy trying not to be sick herself.

"Do you think this is magic related?" Emma asked as she pulled his little arms carefully through the wet nightshirt sleeves.

"I don't know. He doesn't have a fever," the brunette pressed her dry cheek to the boy's forehead then asked, "Baby boy, does anything hurt?"

"My tummy," the boy answered then held his hands over his abdomen and nuzzled back down into his mother's chest.

"Not your head or anything?" Emma asked remembering the terrible headaches she suffered as a child and the vomiting those headaches produced. Henry shook his head no, and when it seemed like he was no longer going to get sick, Regina instructed Emma to grab him a towel and handed the boy over to her.

The brunette stripped down the rest of her clothes and rinsed them off before hanging them up over the shower curtain rod before getting out of the shower herself. When she returned to the main room of their suite Emma was pacing and bouncing the boy absently. Her face showed clear signs of stress, and Regina stopped the woman's momentum, and as she looked over the sleepy child, she said, "Probably best not to jostle him too much dear."

"Oh! Right! I'm sorry," Emma cried and then apologized again to the boy. "Should we take him to the hospital?"

"I'm not certain that's necessary," Regina slowly said in a calm placating tone.

"But Regina, what if his little body is fighting off the stupid magic I did to him, and it's hurting him?"

Regina secured the towel she had covering herself then drew the blonde's attention with a gentle caress to her cheek and said, "Darling I think you're overreacting."

"But…"

"I'm going to get dressed and go to the drug store and pick up some children's Pedialyte and some anti-nausea medication. If he continues to be sick and can't hold in fluids, then we'll take him to a professional, but I'd guarantee it was Miss Lucas' ill-prepared diner food that has caused his ailment and not some magical blundering from crossing the town line. Now, will you be okay here with him? If he starts to vomit again, you know how to handle it?"

Emma's eyes teared up, and she shook her head no and said, "Can I go to the store instead? I think I'll feel better if I have something to do."

"As you wish darling," Regina soothed and leaned in and kissed the blonde and added, "He's okay."

"How can you be so calm?"

"Practice," Regina smirked. "He feeds off of our energy so if we are calm; he is calm. We can better assess his issues if he is relaxed."

"I'm sorry," Emma blushed.

"It's quite alright. Find one of Henry's tee shirts for him to sleep in while I get dressed, would you?"

Emma nodded tightly and sat down on the end of the bed tucking the boy in her arm as she dug through his bag looking for something for him to wear. "You say 'Henry's tee shirt' as if it isn't  _his_ ," Emma commented.

"Well," Regina replied thoughtfully as she pulled on a silky pajama top over her head before continuing, "Technically, they aren't little Henry's."

"He's still the same kid," Emma defended as she dressed the boy on her lap.

"Is he?" the brunette asked.

"No," Emma admitted sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

Regina strutted over to where the blonde and the boy were sitting and knelt down at the younger woman's feet and said, "This isn't your fault. I don't blame you."

"Why do I feel like I killed our kid?" Emma suddenly felt her fears in an overwhelming raw way and started to cry.

"Don't be stupid. You didn't kill him, Emma," the brunette said firmly. Seeing the stress in the younger woman, she softened her tone and asked, "Remember when this accident first happened, and I said this was a second chance for you?" Emma nodded her head as she wiped away her tears.

"This is your second chance with him, my love," the brunette said and looked down at their semi-conscious son and added, "Look at him, Emma. You will be his mother and not just a glorified babysitter."

"I hate it when you call me that."

"Why do you think I do it," the brunette teased.

"You're such an asshole," Emma chuckled through her tears.

"I've been called worse by a better class of people," Regina snarked with a chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"How can you be so okay with this. With him, you know, like this. For like good?"

"I'm not; it just wouldn't do to have us both freak out at the same time."

"You're going to hate me," Emma whispered.

"I've already hated you. I dislike repeating myself."

"He isn't going to be the same kid, is he?"

Regina lowered her gaze and sadly brushed a few soft curls away from her son's sleeping face and agreed, "No."

"I miss him," Emma whispered. "I miss him so hard it hurts to breathe."

"Me too darling."

"I will never forgive myself for this."

Regina sat back and rested her head against the Savior's thigh and let out a deep breath and said, "I know."

Both women sat in silence, missing their son. Mourning their son. Regina's Henry. The sassy boy who had all of the best qualities of his adoptive mother. The smart and easygoing young man that had a thirst for knowledge and an unwavering belief in magic and good versus evil.

"I'm so sorry Regina."

"I know you are dear."


	21. Chapter 21

Emma got into the car and drove into the small community Motel Hell outskirts. She picked up her cell phone when she arrived at the all-night drugstore and texted Regina that she'd arrived. She sorted through several alerts to missed calls from Snow White and several from Doctor Hopper. She deleted the voicemails from both and went into the drugstore and called Ruby.

"Emma? Is everything alright?"

"No," Emma admitted as she got a small cart and went into the diaper section of the store.

"Your mom's freaking the fuck out and driving me nuts."

"He didn't change back."

"Fine, you win," the brunette said with a huff. "How the hell did he not change back?"

"I don't know because magic is stupid."

"People are stupid, magic is just magic," the wolf said factually.

"Yeah well,  _my_ magic is stupid because it's  _my_ magic!" Emma huffed and started pulling medical devices for infants down off of the rack and into her basket. She grabbed a thermometer and a boogie ball snot sucker and bandaids with little dinosaurs.

"So is he going to stay small for like ever?"

Emma froze as she was reaching for baby nail clippers and gulped, "What?"

"Is he going to stay three or is he going to get bigger like a normal kid?"

"I… I don't know!"

"Don't panic," the wolf warned.

"Too late," Emma said and pushed the cart into the next aisle.

"Okay well  _don't_. You could always come back. Eventually, Regina will think of something."

Emma considered the prospect of returning to Storybrooke for just a moment and closed her eyes and leaned against the cart for support. It was too soon to think about it. Her emotions from that day were too raw. "If he doesn't get bigger, we'll have to, but I'm not even considering it tonight."

"Have you talked to Snow?"

"No," Emma replied and went and picked up the medicine she'd gone there to get and then saw a stuffed koala bear sitting in a big basket of plush stuffies.

"She's tripping pretty hard. I don't think she expected you to pick up and leave."

"She's an idiot," Emma said and picked up the bear and felt the comfort of his soft fur before absently adding, "Running is kind of what I do. It's what I've always done."

"Then maybe leaving might not have been the right thing to do?" the brunette sounded hopeful, and Emma sighed and put the bear in the cart.

"This time it's different. I'm not running away from some dick foster who gets handsy after a few beers or because I got into trouble with the law." Emma added, "I'm not hiding away from my problems."

"Are you going to talk to her?"

"Not tonight," Emma said and went down the snacks aisle and got a few things including cereal for the kid in the morning. The phone buzzed incoming text from Regina, and she told Ruby to hang on while she checked it.

**Regina: Are you lost?**

**Emma: is that code for you miss me?**

The blonde returned to her conversation with the wolf who asked, "Your mom?"

"No, Regina. I've got Snow on mute until further notice."

"Regina's not with you?"

"No, I'm at the store. She's at the hotel with the kid. He started puking."

"Ew," the wolf choked.

Emma sighed and agreed with the brunette's assessment, "I know it was rude. He got it all over Regina."

**Regina: Don't be ridiculous.**

**Regina: Pick up some breakfast foods.**

**Emma: Already done. Anything special for my Queen?**

"Yeah, kids are gross." Ruby hummed then added, "Sorry. What I meant to say is, is he okay?"

"I think so. On the plus side, I think Regina is blaming you," Emma chuckled as she picked up a couple of boxes of granola bars with the words wholegrain and nutri on the front of the package for the Queen.

"Me?! I didn't make your kid sick!" Ruby exclaimed in her defense.

Emma thought for a moment and said, "I bet it was all that fucking sugar he ate!"

"Oh okay, well there's that, but I didn't like  _poison_ him or anything. She can't kill me for that."

**Regina: Don't do that.**

**Emma: Do what? Call you my Queen?**

**Emma: Come on, it's cute.**

Emma hummed then teased the wolf, "You sound  _afraid_. Is the big bad wolf afraid of a little queen?"

"Hell yeah I am, and if you were smart, you would be too. I know precisely what she's capable of."

**Regina: It is in no way cute.**

Emma chuckled at both the Queen and the wolf and said, "She's changed."

"I'm sure she has, but you'll excuse me if I err on the side of caution."

"She's a big teddy bear," Emma dismissed as she made her way through the toy aisle. She selected several items she thought the boy would be occupied with and regretted not bringing some of his toys. Had she even thought about it she wouldn't have brought little Henry's toys; she would have grabbed things to occupy older Henry.

"No,  _you're_ the teddy bear. She's a panther. Beautiful, but  _deadly_."

**Emma: Fine. Do you want anything?**

**Regina: Your prompt return.**

**Emma: I miss you too. I'll be home soon.**

Emma smiled at the idea that even in some mangey motel room she could call it home and mean it simply for the fact that Regina and Henry were there and that is exactly what it was to her. Home. "A panther? Not a cougar?"

"Again,  _I'm_ not about the deathwish," the wolf said with a nervous laugh. "Unlike someone I know."

Emma made her way to the cashier as she said with snark, "Right. I'm  _all_ about the deathwish."

"Only because she lets you get away with it."

"What can I say? I love poking the bear."

"I bet you do." Ruby's chuckles got quiet as Emma took her loot out to the car. "I'm gonna miss you, Swan."

"I know. Me too Rubes." She wanted to reassure the woman that it wasn't forever, that she would visit or find a way for the wolf to visit her, but in her current state of mind, she wasn't certain any of that could happen.

"Call me tomorrow and let me know where you are and all that crap."

"Alright."

"And talk to your mother, if for nothing else but to stop her from making me crazy."

"Fine. Handle it for a couple of days though; I need a minute."

"Deal."

She got off the phone and packed the bags into the back of Regina's car and then got in behind the wheel. She took a deep breath and tried to push the overwhelming anxiety of their situation aside and drove toward her family.

* * *

Emma draped her arms full of her bounty and carried it into her motel room. The brunette was laying down next to their son rubbing his back as the boy slept.

She dumped the bags she had down in the dining area of their room and then started going through them looking for the medicine she was sent out to retrieve. A pair of arms draped themselves around her hips, and she felt a warm body curl into her back. "Did you get him the bubblegum flavor?"

"No they didn't have it," Emma said then pulled out the koala bear and turned in the older woman's embrace. "They did have this though."

"We don't have any of his toys," the brunette said factually as if it just occurred to her.

"No. I wasn't thinking."

Regina took the bear before stating, "You were thinking of what was important."

"We can go buy him some clothes when he's feeling better," Emma stated trying to reassure herself.

"He seems okay. We'll just need to watch his fluids intake and make sure he's putting out," Regina said as she looked through the closest bag. She held up the blue plastic bulbous device and asked, "What's this for?"

Emma shrugged, "I don't know it was in the fix-your-kid aisle. I bought everything."

"I can see that."

"Hey, I panic shopped. It happens."

"Are you alright now?"

"No."

Regina set down the items she was inspecting then turned her attention to the blonde, "What's wrong."

"Ruby asked if he was going to stay little and it freaked me out."

"Well only time will tell but it was a remote chance within the town limits it seems even less likely in a world with no magic to speak of."

"But…"

"There are no buts Miss Swan. He is unharmed. We will monitor him, and I am certain any issues that may arise; we are competent parents and will do what is best for him."

"Maybe  _you_ are a competent parent…" Emma huffed and broke eye contact with the Queen.

"I trust that you will always do what you think is right, Emma. The rest you'll learn. I've had ten years of learning from my mistakes."

"I can't imagine you ever making mistakes with him. Everything you do is so… right."

"Well, it wasn't always that way and trust me, more often than not, I learn things the hard way. You have good instincts, and I am confident our son is in good hands with you."

Emma smiled wide at the no-nonsense reassurance and went back to unpacking what she bought.

"Emma, you have the receipt?"

"Yeah, why?"

She held up a pacifier with a silent eyebrow raise.

The blonde blushed and explained, "I was distracted. Don't worry I've got plenty of savings for a down payment on a temporary apartment and can easily get a job to get a house."

"Oh dear, I've got plenty of money."

"Yeah but isn't that like," Emma rolled her eyes and asked, " _cursed_  money or whatever?"

Still picking through the bags Regina replied, "It may have started out that way, but when I first got here I bought stock in Apple." The brunette shrugged and added, "I thought it was a humorous play on words at first but it ended up panning out for me financially."

Emma's mouth dropped open as she considered what that could possibly mean for their future. "How much are we talking?"

"Enough." Dark eyes flicked up and met Emma's gaze and suddenly the Savior let go of the anxiety she held about providing for her new little family.

The Queen picked up a box of breakfast Nutri grain bars and asked, "Since when do you eat bran?"

"Since never. I got those for you for in the morning," Emma replied offhandedly. "I wasn't sure which flavor to get, so I safe betted on apple." A sniffle pulled the Savior's attention, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Regina said and turned away from Emma and said, "You just knew what kind I like."

"It's not like you are low-key about your fruit passions Regina. I'm pretty sure you're where our son gets his fruit fixation from. Why would that make you upset?"

"I'm not  _upset_ ," the Queen lied and Emma pulled her arm to turn the woman around but when she did Regina buried her face into Emma's shoulder. The day had worn down the Queen, and she was feeling emotional. The sudden outpour of emotion irritated her as she is accustomed to being in control of herself. The fact that she was crying over bran bars was ridiculous to her, and that made the tears fall all the harder.

"Sure. Come on it's your turn; I've been flipping out all night. Talk to me."

"No one has ever thought of me in such a way. No one has ever been…"

"I do love you Regina."

"You only think you do because you think I've changed."

"Okay," Emma answered coaxing for more. "I'm not sure what that means."

The Queen pulled from the Savior's attempt at soothing and snapped, "It  _means_  this is what the curse was supposed to do!"

Emma saw the conflict and irritation in the older woman and gave her the physical space she seemed to need but pushed her to explain herself. "Okay, seriously what the hell are you talking about?"

"The dark curse was supposed to give me my happily ever after. I thought that meant Henry, but I think it means you too."

"Okay," Emma asked when Regina didn't continue.

" _Not_  okay. If the curse is still fulfilling its purpose, then that means everyone in Storybrooke is still affected by it. I've destroyed their happiness! I've destroyed your mother's happiness."

"Wait, no, you're not destroying her happiness. She has David and is the little queen to her stupid little town."

"She doesn't have  _you_ ," Regina said sadly.

Emma carefully approached the dark woman and rubbed her palm along her shoulder and leaned in to make eye contact before gently saying, "Maybe, but that has nothing to do with you."

"It's the  _curse_.  _My_ curse. My happiness or  _theirs_ ," Regina mumbled then dark watery eyes looked up and she quietly said, "I want my happiness. I want to let you love me, and I want to raise our son together, but that would be evil wouldn't it?"

Emma's brow pinched in confusion, "Evil?"

"Yes, putting my desires over others?"

"Wanting your happiness is not evil Regina. I don't think any of you fairy tale people have ever seen true evil."

Regina rolled her eyes at the blonde's flippant attitude toward the darkness she's known in her life and deadpanned, "Have you met the Dark One?"

"He's manipulative and mildly irritating but only harms those who renege on a contractual deal.  _Not_ evil."

"Maleficent?"

"A dragon at best, a crazy vindictive bitch at worst. Not  _evil_ ," Emma replied with a smirk.

"What is your definition of evil then, Savior?"

Emma lifted her hand to count off, "Child molesters, rapists, animal torturers, elderly abusers, and Hitler." Emma smirked when the Queen rolled her eyes and added, "And that's just off the top of my head."

"Well, Henry would think this was evil."

Emma cupped the older woman's cheek and soothed, "Henry would never think you being happy was evil."

"He would, and I fear he may be right." Regina pulled away once again and started separating the frivolous items Emma purchased from the stuff they could use.

Emma stared at the brunette for a moment looking her over. Her dark chocolate locks were thick with unkempt curls from when she air-dried her hair. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her posture was slouching ever so slightly. The woman had been through the day of hell, and perhaps it was all just a little too much for her. She rested a calming hand on Regina's back and reassured, "This thing with Mary Margaret isn't your curse."

Regina pulled away and turned from the Savior as she spat, "You don't know that!"

"I absolutely do, because first, I broke it and second,  _she_ decided to be a dick. I'll continue to try and make her listen now that you and Henry are safe, but if she doesn't, that's 100% on her." Emma circled the brunette and lifted her chin and asked, "What makes you so sure this is  _your_ happy ending? Maybe it's  _mine?_ "

The Queen's face pinched in question as she asked, "Yours?"

"Yeah, maybe being the savior means I get my happily ever after."

"You think  _I'm_ your happily ever after?"

"I'm actually pretty certain of it," Emma admitted with a sheepish smile.

The brunette was quiet for a long time as she considered the way she viewed the situation versus how the Savior did herself and when she didn't comment further Emma wrapped her arms around the Queen and drew her in and said in a low tone, "I was born to be the Savior Regina. I'm supposed to bring all the happy endings back for everyone by breaking the curse. Maybe in all that, the Evil Queen gets her happy ending too. Not because of a curse you cast but because that's what we've always been destined to be."

"What?"

"Each other's happily ever after," Emma kissed the brunette on the side of the head and continued, "I think whatever this is, however we got here, is an opportunity not just for me to have my happy ending or my second chance at being Henry's mother, but for you too."

Regina pulled back and looked up into green eyes and asked, "I  _was_ Henry's mother."

"Of course you were, but now you won't be forced to lie to him. You will raise him free of the shadow of your past, and he will never ever look at you as the Evil Queen. All he will ever know is his mother loves him."

"I love you," Regina said in a low, almost inaudible tone, as her emotions caught the words in her throat.

"I know," Emma said and laid a kiss on warm lips.

Regina pulled away and rested her hand over the taller woman's heart and said, "No, I mean I  _really_ love you, Emma Swan."

Emma lifted her and laid a kiss against the squealing protesting lips and carried her to their bed and said, "I  _know_."


	22. Chapter 22

**Epilogue**

It took the couple almost a year to find a house in the countryside of Providence just south of Emma Swan's old stomping ground of Boston Massachusetts. Regina took her time finding exactly the right home because she wanted to make sure that the educational system wherever it was they ended up was adequate for young Henry's bright future.

During the time that they looked for the perfect home to settle down in, Emma kept in daily contact with her godmother, Ruby Lucas. It seemed as though once Emma and Regina left the sleepy town of Storybrooke what remained of the dark curse shattered and the residents were able to leave the town's border and venture out into the real world. Conversations Regina had with her old mentor, Rumplestiltskin, made the couple believe that it was in fact little Henry who broke the magical confinement. The Dark One speculated that the boy's past life was sacrificed thus dooming him to remain the toddler his mother turned him into because of course, all magic comes with a price, and the child's past seemed to be the cost. He did, however, reassure the couple that the boy would continue growing as an average child would.

Even though some of the residents fled as soon as they could, most of the main cast of characters stayed on, backing their sovereign, the White Queen along with her Prince Charming. Snow made a grand show of her desire for keeping her kingdom together and insisted that the fairy folk would find them all a way back home to the Enchanted Forest, where they belong. But many of the residents spoke out and resisted the plans to leave citing they rather enjoyed having the technologies the real world afforded them. Snow finally backed down her insistence that they all return and settled on providing a path to any who desired of it.

None, outside of the Queen's inner circle, volunteered.

Once Emma temporarily settled, she made good on the promise she made to the wolf and started making an effort to reconnect with her parents in hopes that they would finally understand why she did what she did. Her father, who seemed to have more of David Nolan in him than Prince Charming, was more sympathetic to their situation than Snow White herself and as a result, Emma took to calling him directly whenever it was she reached out to the couple.

Emma did her best to warn David of the powers and manipulations of the leader of the fairies and gave him all of the details Regina had provided of the day Blue broke into the Mayor's mansion and stole away the Queen and their child. The man reassured the Savior that hadn't been her mother's plan, but the fact the White Queen remained by Blue's side slowed the progress of any sort of reconciliation between the couple and their daughter.

It took several months before Snow's eyes were finally opened to the treachery of the Blue Fairy when the inexperienced Queen went against the fairy's council and was presented with the side of Blue Emma had warned her about. It took making a deal with the Dark One to get their hands on a magical potion that put a stop to the fairy once and for all. Stripped of her magic, she was locked away in the asylum she imprisoned Regina in, never to be heard from again.

Once the Fairy's influence over the Queen was broken, her Prince was able to talk some sense into her about how things were handled with their daughter. There was still an extreme amount of tension because of the history the woman had with her daughter's chosen girlfriend and she went to great lengths to make it known her displeasure with the situation. She went as far as to deny Emma repeated requests to pack up and send keepsakes of her son from Regina's home. The refusal was a transparent attempt to get Emma to return to the sleepy little town and the Savior was justifiably wary of the apparent ploy; so she refused.

It had taken Ruby Lucas longer than most to venture out into the real world, despite repeated invites from her goddaughter. She was apprehensive about leaving because what would she be in a world without magic, suddenly stripped of her wolf, her identity. After repeated reassurances from Regina via Emma, she accepted the request to help the couple move into their new home. Regina hired a moving company of course, but Emma insisted she would need Ruby's help moving things into the new house.

The iconic red Mustang pulled up and parked away from the moderately sized moving van at the end of the sleepy little cul de sac. She got out of her vehicle and looked around at the few overweight men lifting boxes and carrying furniture into the pale brick home. She hesitated when she didn't see anyone she knew until a tiny voice called, "Momma! Mommy! Auntie Wubie's here!"

A high pitched squeal was heard followed by a flash of yellow as Emma rushed her, jumping into her arms. "You made it!" the blonde cried and held tight in her embrace.

"Yeah, I took the coast. I've always wanted to see the ocean," Ruby admitted and held onto her friend who seemingly had little desire to let her go. A small thump hit the pair as Henry dove into their legs, matching his mother's excitement.

"Hey kid," Ruby greeted and kissed the side of the blonde's head then bent down and picked up the little boy, tossing him into the air before pulling him into a hug.

Henry squealed and wrapped himself around the lean frame of his auntie.

"Where's Regina?" Ruby asked a grinning Savior.

"Little Miss Bossy is inside making sure everything goes where it's supposed to."

"Widdle Mith Bothsie," Henry repeated with a giggle when Emma's eyes grew wide in horror.

"Dude, what did I say about repeating stuff I say?"

"Sorry Momma," the boy replied but didn't lose his devious grin.

"You are too much like your mother," Emma commented noting the familiar wicked streak in the boy. "Go tell Mommy Auntie Ruby is here, will you?"

"Okay Momma!" the boy wiggled from the wolf's arms and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him toward the house.

The blonde looked back at the taller brunette and said, "I can't wait to show you around. We have a pool room in the basement."

The broad smile across the Savior's face struck the wolf, and she commented, "You look really great Swan."

"A sight for sore eyes and all that crap?" Emma asked with a light blush and a nervous chuckle.

"No, I mean, yeah I've missed you, but hell the family life really suits you. When did the kid start calling you Mom?"

"About six months ago out of nowhere. He came home from pre-school and just said it, and I've been Momma ever since. No more Daddy Shark, no more Emma." The blonde shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know what changed for him, but Regina cried."

"Just Regina?"

"Maybe," Emma's blush deepened. "Come on; I want to show you Regina's art studio. It's pretty epic."

"Uh, hang on, we can carry this stuff in," the wolf said with a mischievous look.

"Your bags?"

"Uh no, I kind of brought a surprise."

"Woo, I love surprises!" Emma said then tried to guess, "Oh man did you bring me a box of Granny's bear claws?"

Ruby popped the trunk then looked back at the blonde with apprehension and said, "No, I forgot."

Emma couldn't help her face fall in disappointment but perked up when she said, "Next time you visit."

Ruby smiled and said, "I promise." She lifted out a box and handed it to the confused blonde.

"What's all this?"

"Crap from Snow's."

"My crap?"

"Yours, Henry's and Regina's."

Emma looked at the wolf in disbelief and asked, "You got Snow to pack up Regina's stuff?"

"Nooooot exactly," Ruby said with a crinkle of her nose. "I was over at your parent's place and could smell Regina's scent in the loft and found that Snow had taken pictures and baby clothes from when Henry was little the first time around. I talked to your dad, and he let me take the stuff when I told him I was coming down to see you guys. He doesn't think it's right she held this stuff hostage either."

Emma's shock was plainly seen as she dropped the box back into the trunk then hugged her friend and breathed, "Thank you, Ruby!"

"Anytime kiddo," the brunette said and returned the embrace. "Come on let's move this stuff in and go check out your game room."

The pair moved the boxes into the house, tucking them away in what will be Regina's office. "Henry David Mills no running on the stairs!" The Queen's voice rang out, echoing against the bare walls of the new home.

"David?" Ruby asked the former Sheriff.

"Yeah, we needed to kind of fudge his birthday to get him a new birth certificate and social security number and all that to enroll him in school, and we decided that because he will be a different Henry that we wouldn't reuse our Henry's name," Emma replied sadly. "It was Regina's idea. She wanted to honor the son we knew as his own person, but also let go of her past a little I guess? David is my father, and he has been active in our lives, so it seemed fitting."

"That's really cool Swan."

"Yeah, I'm guessing he hasn't told Snow yet then?"

"That would be a big fat no otherwise I would have heard all about it I'm sure."

"Well he knows all about it, and totally ugly cried on Skype when we told him."

"He's still a Mills though?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, we both agreed to that. She's listed as his mother on his birth certificate and everything so she didn't have to re-adopt him or anything."

"So you're going to take her name?"

"Yeah, the hyphen stuff is pretentious, and Swan really isn't my name."

"Well, I'm still going to call you Swan, it's my prerogative. Does she suspect about tonight?"

"She has no clue. She's been so busy organizing the move she hasn't had time to do much else."

"Snow is going to be insufferable."

"Yeah well, Regina has to say yes first. I'm not too worried about what my mother thinks about my relationship and if she chooses not to be at my wedding, so be it."

Regina Mills entered the office where Ruby and Emma were talking and looked down at the boxes disapprovingly. "What the hell are those?"

"Hey, Regina!" Ruby greeted with a shy smile and a little wave, still uncertain how to act around the former Queen.

"Miss Lucas," Regina's scowl melted into a warm smile, and she leaned in and politely hugged the taller woman. "We're glad to have you!"

"These boxes can stay in here until the attic gets whatevered," Emma said pulling Regina's attention from the boxes Ruby brought.

"What are they?" Regina asked with a lifted eyebrow.

"Our stuff from Storybrooke," Emma answered in a somber tone. She knew the older woman would have feelings about the items Ruby brought and of course she was delighted that the wolf thought enough to bring them their stuff, but it was still a sore subject for the couple, and she didn't want to put a damper on the day by rehashing the loss of their son.

"Well then, put them in the corner until the contractor is finished in the attic darling." Regina bowed her head slightly toward the wolf and said, "Thank you, dear."

The tension was thick until little Henry ran into the office, "Auntie Wubie come see my wroom! I gots dinos!" He grabbed the tall brunette by the hand and dragged her out of the room leaving his mothers alone.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked taking the brunette into her arms.

"Of course darling," Regina put on a tight placating smile and side-eyed the boxes next to her desk. "I'm just tired that's all."

"You're still up for tonight?" Emma asked hopefully. She booked a reservation months ago and had an entire evening planned that included a built-in babysitter, but all of that hinged on the brunette's desire to go out at all.

"I am, although I feel guilty us going out Ruby's first night here. Wouldn't you rather play with your little friend? We can do this some other time."

"Regina, it's our anniversary. Ruby understands that. I just know it's been a long day for you with the move and all."

"Think nothing of it, dear. The moving company did all the heavy lifting."

Emma leaned in and kissed the Queen and said, "Liar. You've been orchestrating this for weeks."

"Yes well, I like  _what_ I like,  _how_ I like it."

"You can't argue with that logic," Emma said with a chuckle then leaned in and pecked a kiss on the woman's cheek. "Your  _Majesty_."

"I thought I said we weren't doing that."

"And  _I_ thought I said it was cute," Emma replied and pecked a kiss on the tip of the Queen's nose.

"Yes well, come on, we've got much to do if you want to make it out tonight."

* * *

Regina was the first finished getting ready as Emma insisted on 'one more mission' with the wolf down in the game room. The Queen wore an off the shoulder, billowed red satin dress, and her hair was curled in more of a natural state as Emma preferred. Henry jumped up from the living room and rushed his mother and called, "Mommy you look beautiful!"

"Holy crap Regina!" Ruby cried, tongue wagging.

"Yes well, I suppose this will do since my little Prince approves."

"Your Princess approves too," Emma said from the top of the staircase. She was dressed in a little black dress that was sinfully tight. It was a longer cut that fell just above her knees, and her black heels had a mirror shine. Her hair was braided up into itself, and her smile was beaming as she looked down at her girlfriend.

A whistle echoed out, and Ruby complemented, "Swan you are rocking that dress hard, girl!"

With a sharp look from the Queen, Ruby amended, "I mean tasteful, Swan."

Regina humphed at the correction then leaned into the kiss her Savior provided upon arriving at the bottom of the stairs. Ruby picked up Henry and held him out to receive kisses from both of his mother's as they were saying their goodbyes.

Emma gave a strict warning to the wolf, "No sugar."

Ruby blushed and said, "Right, Auntie Ruby doesn't do baby puke."

"He's four, he isn't a baby anymore," Regina corrected. "That being said, you have our numbers if something happens, call mine first because as you are well aware, Miss Swan is lax with answering hers."

Emma rolled her eyes and kissed the kid goodbye once again and told him to listen to Ruby and to be good then herded Regina out of the door and into their Lexus.

"I don't see why I can't drive," Regina complained as they headed out.

"Because I know where I'm going, and it's easier."

"You could just as easily give me directions. Where are we going anyway?"

"It's a surprise."

"I'm going to know soon enough; you might as well tell me now."

"You're terrible at surprises aren't you?"

"I'm not overly fond of them, no."

"Fine, it is a place called Top of the Hub in Boston," Emma admitted then grabbed the woman's phone from her hand and said, "No Googling!"

"I just want to know what to expect!" Regina snapped but didn't make an attempt to retrieve her phone from the Savior.

"Expect romance."

"I'm uncertain how to react to romance," Regina replied in a soft tone.

"Well, it's our first anniversary, so I guess you'll get the hang of it next year or the year after."

"I suppose," the darker woman responded with an attempt to hide the growing smile across her face.

* * *

The Top of the Hub was located on floor 52 of the Prudential Tower in downtown Boston. The dining area was enclosed by floor to ceiling windows that overlooked not only the city but also Charles River Basin. Emma chose the spot for the breathtaking sights even though she knew all of her attention would be on the Queen.

It was early evening when they arrived and as the doors to the elevator opened Emma smiled when she heard the small gasp from the woman beside her. "Oh Emma, it's beautiful!" Dark eyes were pinned to the sights that surrounded them as she absently walked into the empty dining area.

Emma leaned in and whispered into her ear, "Not nearly as beautiful as you, My Queen."

The sentiment startled the woman from her awe, and she turned and looked at the blonde in shock. "You really are a romantic aren't you?"

"Only for you, Your Majesty."

The brunette broke herself from the Savior's bewitching spell and looked around within the restaurant for the first time and asked, "Where is everyone? Are we early?"

"I kind of wanted our first anniversary dinner to be just us, so I rented out the entire restaurant for the night."

"Oh, Emma!" The Queen covered her mouth which seemed incapable of closing and Emma guided her to the table in the corner which would give them the perfect vantage for the end of meal surprise she had planned.

Emma arranged a Sinfonietta orchestra to play during their meal and as soon as they started their waiter came out and took their choices for their main course and wine selection. When the wine came, Regina complimented the Savior's decision and said, "I didn't know you knew about wine."

"I cheated," the blonde admitted. "I don't particularly like it myself, but I understand that this will go well with what we've ordered.

"You realize you don't have to go to such lengths to impress me, Savior. Tonight is a sure thing." Regina winked as best as she could, and Emma chuckled at the flirty behavior of her Queen.

"I will never stop trying to impress you, Regina. You deserve to be forever courted." Emma knew the woman had no such romance in any of her previous relationships and she was determined to make sure Regina felt wanted and appreciated every single day. "Besides tonight is different. It's our first."

"I do believe first anniversary gifts are customarily paper in this realm are they not?" Regina asked as the wait staff brought their next course.

"Pom Pom Beet Salad," the waiter announced as he set down the plates in front of the women then quietly asked Emma, "Can I get you anything else?"

Emma smiled tightly and declined before returning her attention back to her girlfriend. "How is it?"

"It has kale, so you're going to hate it, but it goes beautifully with the Rosé," Regina replied with a large smile.

"I'm not big on the salad as a food for humans as it is," Emma said looking down at the large plate of colorful greens.

Once the third course was taken away, Emma stood up and asked Regina to dance.

"Emma, are we allowed?"

"I rented the orchestra; I'm pretty sure we're allowed," Emma held out her hand for the Queen and said, "They're playing our song."

"You're ridiculous."

"I know," Emma said with a smirk then guided the Queen out to the cleared area where the musicians had been playing all night.

The blonde took the lead and wrapped her arm up around the Queen's back and held her close as she slowly started to move to the steps she'd practiced. During one of David's Skype chats, he taught her, using Henry as a partner, several dance steps in preparation for this night and the practice as it seemed, paid off.

"You are very elegant on your feet Miss Swan," the Queen commented clearly impressed.

"I'm a quick study," Emma replied trying not to lose count in her head. She turned the Queen then pulled her back before kissing her softly on the lips. "I'm in love with you Regina Mills."

"I know," Regina said with a large playful smile.

As the time neared the main event of the evening, Emma felt herself grow more anxious. The threat of rejection was strong even though the couple had spoken their thoughts on marriage with one another. However, it was just one conversation. Regina wasn't opposed to the idea, but she didn't seem overly enthusiastic about the prospect either which is what was causing the concern in Emma that night.

Their main course was finished, and Emma had barely eaten the steak she ordered as her nerves had her stomach queasy. She figured she would wrap it up and bring it home and eat it once she knew for certain one way or another her future with the Queen.

"Are we ready for dessert?" the waiter asked.

"No thank you," Regina replied when Emma said, "Yes please."

The confused look on the man's face would have been comical had Regina not just torpedoed the next step in Emma's plan. The blonde cleared her throat and said, "Yes, dessert would be lovely; thank you."

Once the waiter disappeared from the table, Regina commented, "You barely finished your dinner darling. I assumed you were full."

"Dessert is Crème Brûlée Regina, no one says no to Crème Brûlée." Emma felt her heart pound and her palms get sweaty as the near miss to her plan almost unhinged.

"Well fine, but only because it's our anniversary and because it is my favorite."

The waiter brought their dessert and as he set down the plates before each of the women Regina's attention was drawn to a bright white banner floating passed the window. "Oh Emma, will you look at that?"

The waiter quickly handed Emma the rose and the ring box before discretely vacating the table and Emma made her move, getting down on her knees as that was the only position her dress would allow. She held up the rose and quietly waited for the attention of her Queen.

"Oh someone, somewhere, is proposing! That is so romantic!" the woman cried as she watched the plane pass by with the banner that read, "Will you marry me?" written in lights.

Nowhere near soon enough the brunette's attention returned inside the restaurant and noticed her girlfriend on the floor with a single white rose. "Emma, what on earth are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to take this?" Emma answered with a shaky voice.

"Why-"

Emma cut the question off when she thrust the rose into Regina's hands, and as soon as the woman took the hint and the rose, the blonde opened the small leather box that contained a diamond ring.

"Wait," Regina gulped and looked back out the window to where the plane had been, and all the color drained from her face. In her shock, she looked back down at the blonde who seemed properly terrified as the hand that held a ring shook.

_Not_ a  _ring._ My  _ring._

The silence in the restaurant was deafening, and Emma silently regretted clearing the place out for them. What she wouldn't give to hear the clanking of silverware or hushed talking of strangers in the long moments as Regina processed her shock.

"Will you be my wife, Regina?" Emma asked again, and as if the words she spoke finally cut through the older woman's stupor, the Queen covered her mouth as she silently nodded.

"Yes?" Emma asked to reconfirm seeing that her new fianceé was not able to verbalize her answer.

Juicy tears fell from dark eyes as the woman nodded her head once again. The Queen pushed back her chair from the table and didn't wait for the blonde to get up off of the floor before she crashed into her and screamed, "YES!"

With gleeful bellowing laughs, the women fell to the floor, and Regina climbed up on top of the Savior and kissed her passionately, uncaring if anyone or no one was looking at them. She broke her kiss then proceeded to peck smaller kisses all over Emma's face and reiterated her answer over and over to a wildly laughing blonde.

Once the couple calmed themselves, Emma sat up, holding the Queen on her lap she took the ring out of the box and slid it onto the brunette's finger.

"Oh Emma, it's beautiful."

"Nowhere near as beautiful as you, my love," Emma gently kissed dark red lips then whispered, "I love you, Regina Mills."

"You complete me, Emma Swan. I would be honored to be your wife."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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> A/N: That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. I just want to send out a quick thank you to PunnyBish for all of her help and encouragement during this story - she's amazing and I don't know what I would do without her :) <3 All the loves Jennybear!


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